


A Shadow Over Ormond

by DeadOnArrivalGirl



Series: A Shadow Over Ormond [1]
Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Inspired by Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:20:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23943838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeadOnArrivalGirl/pseuds/DeadOnArrivalGirl
Summary: Following your split from Ace after being married for 5 years, you pick up your whole life and move out to be near your best friend Meg in Ormond. Just as you begin your new job as a music teacher at Fairview High School, residents begin to vanish or turn up dead. Despite trying to leave your police background behind, you can't help but start looking for the answer but not all is as it seems. Don't take everything at face value or you might end up as the next on the chopping block.
Relationships: F.J.S.J. | The Legion/Reader, Frank Morrison/Reader
Series: A Shadow Over Ormond [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726066
Comments: 19
Kudos: 57





	1. Taking The Plunge

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the late premiere of this, I hurt my arm this week so typing is a little slow.  
> Be sure to join my discord to keep up with how things are going  
> Enjoy our next story!

Of course, on a day when I have to do one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do, the sky absolutely opened up earlier in the day so everything was wet and cold and overcast. It was just way too damn cold for midday during the Spring for my liking.

Sliding the thick yellow envelope into the mailbox was already stressful enough, but to see that familiar yellow sports car when I turned around honestly set me fast walking back to my car in a panic.

“Nope, fucking nope!” I say when I hear him getting out of his car!

“(f/n), please just wait a second!” he called out as he rushed over to me.

“Go home Ace, don’t you need a nap before the casino opens again?” I snapped, glaring at him over my shoulder but looking at my car like a scared cat.

I dug into my pocket quickly and pulled out my keys, almost dropping them as I rushed to get the door to my truck unlocked.

“(f/n), stop!” he called out as he rushed over to me and just as I got the door open, he slammed it closed and I whipped around to face him.

“ _What_ Ace?! Why are you fucking following me?!” I snapped and he pulled off his sunglasses, looking at me honestly with his hazel gold eyes.

I sighed and lowered my head, refusing to look at him completely. I don’t want to look at him but I do at the same time because I want everything to just go back to normal. I want him to wrap me in his arms, swear he’s going to stay away from the casino and take me home…but I know he won’t.

“Because I don’t want to lose you. This is all a huge mistake and I don’t want you to jump into something foolish just to spite me and end up hurting yourself.” He says and takes my cheeks into his hands.

I involuntarily lean into one of his hands, grasping his wrists gently as I close my eyes and sigh. His hands were so warm and smelled of his cologne, making me inhale deeply then opened my eyes to look up at him.

“If that’s how you feel…then why won’t you stop gambling?” I ask and his desperate expression falls, the softer wrinkles around his mouth smoothing out.

“I can’t…you know I can’t.” he says and that’s when I push his hands away from me, looking down and taking a few deep breaths before looking back up at him.

“You can…you just _won’t_.” I pushed his shoulder back and opened my door.

Once I was in the car and the door was closed, he places his hands on my window, making me look up at him and I can feel my body begging me to go back to him. I want to get out and believe him, go home and just fall into bed with him like I have every day for the past seven years.

His soft jawline was salt and pepper colored from his stubble, he had laugh lines around his mouth and a steep nose, round eyes and bushy black eyebrows. He had this incredible charisma and a swagger I’ve never seen in another man.

“(f/n) …I’m begging you, please don’t do this.” He says and I shake my head.

“Goodbye Ace,” I say and find myself lightly kissing the window and starting the truck. He backs up as I drive out of the parking lot of the post office and leave him…and the rest of this town behind me.

In the process of gassing up my truck, my phone rings.

_Warning, warning, it’s the wife!_

“Hey Meg, I’m gassing up right now and then I’ll be on my way.”

“Good, how’d dropping off the papers go?” she asks.

I hesitated, rubbing my forehead roughly as I contemplated telling her. “Ace was there…I don’t know how I missed him when I rolled up but he was there.” I say, scratching the back of my neck as the tension returned to my shoulders.

“Are you kidding?! Did he hurt you?” she asked quickly.

“Just my pride as a strong, independent woman.” I say and Meg scoffs.

“I _almost_ wish he was; your life could become the next Lifetime movie of the decade!” she says, mimicking a movie trailer voice. “In a WORLD where-”

“Careful, if he dies during the court proceeding, they might suspect you.” I warn and she laughs, making me smile.

“Alright, I’m sorry. Anyways, I’ve gotten all your boxes into the new place and now I’ve got your keys ready for you when you get up here!” Meg practically sings into the phone as I finish pumping my gas and return the nozzle to its holster.

“Jeez, you’d think you were the one moving.” I tease, getting into my truck again.

“Oh, come on!! I’m so excited for my bestie to finally be within spitting distance again!”

“If you actually spit on me when I get out there, I’m moving to the damn moon.” I say, starting the truck and listening to Meg laughing as I hit the road at last.

The drive from my home town to the Canadian border was long and unfortunately, left me to think a lot about where I was going and why I was going there. I glanced down and tapped my phone screen, pulling up my lock screen of Ace and myself holding each other close and smiling at the camera.

I kept driving, feeling that painful spot in my chest that Ace occupied sting as I kept forcing myself to push him out.

I met Ace while responding to a Domestic Dispute at his favorite casino, The Twin Rivers Casino. I’d been a police officer in (hometown) for almost 2 years by this point so responding to a domestic dispute in a public setting was abnormal but upon arrival I learned that it was a miscommunication. It was radioed in as a 10-16, which generally means a Domestic Dispute. It ended up being a 10-10, 10-15; Fight in Progress and Civil Disturbance.

Ace had won a rather high stakes game against this guy and this guy…did _not_ take the loss well. He flipped the table and attacked Ace, resulting in them fighting and us getting called to the scene.

I was still just a beat cop at the time and showed up just in time to watch Ace get in a cheap shot on this prick by kneeing him in the groin and backing up. This allowed me to swoop in and chicken wing the guy before he could recover and get him handcuffed.

After handing him off to my partner who had brought his squad car as opposed to me coming here via motorcycle. After I’d taken all the statements and started towards my bike to continue my patrols, Ace ran out to me and offered to buy me a drink later with that guys money that he’d won. Me, being the spiteful little bitch that I am and thinking he was pretty cute for an older guy, I said yes.

From there, Ace and I began dating for a few years and then he surprised me one night with a trip to Las Vegas and then he proposed to me in the shadow of the Bellagio hotel as the fountain was shooting up into the air…and I said yes. Yes, we got married in a get hitched quick place but the rest of that trip we spent drinking and dancing and fucking.

I laughed as I remembered the confused look on the room service guys face when Ace answered the door book buck naked. Tears had come to my eyes I was laughing so hard.

I felt something warm hit my lap and a quick glance at the rearview mirror told me how I’d started crying without realizing and I had to pull over. I turned off my truck and just stared at the horn, trying not to let my thoughts drift to the past but I couldn’t help it.

_I woke up to the sound of a bottle breaking downstairs. I gasped and sat up, looking around my blue and black blurry bedroom. I reached into my bedside drawer, finding my hand gun and flashlight, I held it at the ready; resting that arm on my flashlight arm._

_I crept out into the hall, all remnants of sleep have left my body and has been replaced by tension. My veins heating up with adrenaline, prepping my muscles for a worst-case scenario. Once I got to the end of our hallway, I glanced down the stairs and saw a white rectangle of light on the wall, telling me that my kitchen light was on._

_I got to the bottom of the stairs and started towards my kitchen, hearing someone going through my fridge._

_“(hometown) PD!” I call out and hear Ace’s voice grunt, making me drop my weapon right away!_

_“Ooh, sorry dolcezza!” he says, waving at me with a bottle in his hand._

_“Don’t call me sweetness when I just almost shot you!! Where have you been?!” I ask, pointing my weapon at the floor._

_“Casino, why?” he asks, leaning on the fridge door._

_“Why am I not surprised?”_

_“You said you were fucking tired! Too tired to fuck but never too tired to gamble some more!” I yelled, throwing my gun into the sink with a loud clang that seemed to sober him up right away._

_“I don’t always feel in the mood to fuck, is that so damn bad?” He yells right back, slamming his bottle down on the counter._

_“It’s not the sex I’m mad about, it’s the fact that you keep lying to me!! I actually think I wouldn’t be nearly as mad if you would just tell me the damn truth!!” I yell, feeling my eyes fill with tears which makes him turn away from me._

_He’s always had this awful habit to avoid me when I start crying-which was far and few between when it did happen-but I was so tired of having this same exhausting fight._

_“Why would I want to be honest with you when you always react the same way? You yell and cry to make me feel bad for doing something that makes me happy!” he shouts and I set my shoulders back._

_“Me crying and screaming isn’t a manipulation tactic! I’m yelling because you don’t listen to me when I just talk to you and I’m crying because I feel like you’re cheating on me with that damn casino!!” I dropped my face into my hands and just started sobbing._

_“It’s not like that!” he tries to defend but I just step back and start towards the sink. “What are you going to do? Shoot me?” he asks and I stop…just stop._

_I don’t feel the need to cry, or scream…I just look at him and I can see the panic in his eyes. I reach into the sink, take my gun and left the kitchen. “I’m done,” I say._

_“Wait, I didn’t mean that!!”_

_Warning! Warning! It’s the wife!_

I gasped and looked down at my phone, Meg was calling me again and the sun had mostly gone down.

“Shit,” I whispered, wiping my cheeks and taking a deep breath before answering. “Hey,”

“Hey, why do you sound like that?”

“Nothing just…I’m still hung up on what he said…when he asked me if I was going to shoot him.” I took a deep breath and pressed my forehead against the steering wheel. “I just…looked at him, of all the things he could have said at that moment…he said that.” I started loudly crying into the phone. “What’s worse? I can still feel it…in my heart…how much I still love him.”

“I know you do and I know this is hard, please remember why you’re doing this to begin with. You are not the priority in his life and you _deserve_ to be number one.” She says firmly and I nod, fighting through the heartache to regain my will to go forward.

“I deserve better…I deserve better…” I chant to myself.

“Do you want me to come and get you? Where are you?” She asked.

“No…I can…” I took a deep breath and sniffled, setting my shoulders back. “I can do this. I’ll be on my way again in just a minute.” I say and Meg whistles.

“That’s my girl! Let’s get you up here and bring back your inner boss bitch! I liked Ace but let’s be real, he made you into a blushing bride and they’re too soft for my taste.” she cheers and I can’t help it, I laugh.

“You’re amazing Meg, I love you.”

“I love you too, I’m hunting you down if you’re not here in an hour.” She warns and I nod.

“I expect no less from you.” I say and hang up before taking a few deep breaths before turning the car back on and rejoining the road.


	2. Meet The Locals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally arriving in Ormond affords you to learn just how small a town it is...you nearly drove right through it and didn't realize. Though the town and the people seem nice enough, you can't help but stick your nose where it doesn't belong. Be careful.

Ormond was a surprisingly small town when I arrived, the streets paved with black ice. All the buildings were stout with flat roofing, as if this town hadn’t had a reconstruction since the early 80’s. It made me think about the town from ‘It’, small town where everyone knows everyone. I could probably deal with something like that, killer clown running rampant in a small town; spice up my everyday a little bit.

I’d only realized I had even entered Ormond after I’d passed a sign that said ‘Now Leaving Ormond – Please come see us again’. I turned my ass around and went right back into town, seeing a small market place with several stalls shrouded by tarps that were filled to the point of bending with snow.

The people milling about under them were clad in strangely thin looking hoodies and jackets but I just assumed it was because I wasn’t used to this type of weather. I parked in one of three spots that had been shoveled, a massive pile of snow sitting at the front of my car.

Getting out of the car, I was met with a snowball almost immediately to the face; startling me into slipping and hitting my back against the car and falling to my seat.

“Ow!” I yelled when there was a loud voice from my left.

“Damn it, Joey! You two are not playing games! You two are in detention, now get back to shoveling the snow!” he yelled and I looked up to see a man of a rather portly build, white mustache and a round face with rosy Santa Claus cheeks, offering me his hand. “I’m so sorry Miss, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve taken worse hits to the head.” I say, having him help me stand when he looks at my feet.

“Oh, well no wonder you slipped. Those sneakers aren’t going to do you much good here, this place is a tundra almost eleven months of the year.” He says happily and I guess my jaw dropped because he laughed. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know that?” he asks and I shake my head.

“No, my friend happened to mention that this place was mostly a winter town. Oh!” I suddenly realize I haven’t said hello and offer him my hand. “I’m sorry, I’m (f/n) (l/n). I’m moving here today,”

His eyes light up. “Oh! You’re the one Megan has been telling us about, she said to be expecting you. She should be over there in her sports shop.” He directs me to the storefront of a quaint little block shaped building with colorful window paintings advertising their current sale on trips up the mountain.

I turn back to him and shake his hand. “Thank you, and you are?”

“Ah, I’m the Mayor of Ormond. You can call me Rusty, everyone does actually.” He says and I smile at him.

“Mayor Rusty, thank you sir. Nice meeting you,” I say and look over at the two boys who were currently holding shovels and pushing the snow over towards another pile. The taller of the two had his hood up and I could see a black wire hanging from his head; headphones. He was African American with thick eyebrows and a light peppering of black hair around his lips. The one beside him had his back to me so I couldn’t see much of him. I could only tell he was wearing a grey hoodie under a black leather jacket and dark green camo pants held up by a belt made of bullets; looking to be about 55. caliber if they were real. “Hang in there boys, you’re doing a great job.” I say and the one with his back to me raised his head up and looked at his friend, confused seeming and the one I could see just shook his head and they started shoveling again.

I remembered being a kid and even my detention wasn’t shoveling snow, mostly just writing sentences on the board.

I started across the street and as soon as I walked in the storefront, I heard a cheery voice call from the back. “Hi, welcome in! I’ll be right with you!” Meg’s voice traveled to me from the front counter and I followed it. I saw a short girl with bright pink hair and a green hoodie standing at the front counter, talking to Meg. “Susie, detention again?” she asks and takes a pink slip from the girl.

Meg was wearing a maroon long sleeve turtleneck and a bright red puffer vest with a high collar. Her pants were a light blue and matching blue snow boots. Her long red hair was back in a high ponytail and braided, tied off with a white ponytail.

“Yeah…I got in trouble for printing out crime scene photos in the library.” She says and Meg turns her back to the girl and starts digging for something in a box.

“I understand you kids are curious, I think they’re worried you guys are going to shoot up the school or something like that.” She says and turns back to the girl, holding a snow shovel.

“I promise we’re not, we’re just…” she pauses when she seems to sense my presence and turns to look at me.

Her eyes are round and a dark brown color, almost black. Her face was fair with a light speckling of freckles on her cheeks and her full lips were pink and puckered a little. She gasped when she saw me and I could see the light blue rubber bands on her teeth; braces. She wore dark green leggings and bright pink converse with tricolored laces and what appeared to be thicker soles.

She quickly turned back to Meg and took the shovel. “Never mind, thank you Miss Thomas.” She then rushes out of the building, pulling her hood up over her hair as she goes.

“What was that?” I asked, gesturing at the girls back with my thumb and Meg’s saddened expression lights up.

“(f/n)!! You’re here!!” She rushed around the counter and pulled me into a tight hug, warming me to my very core.

“Sorry it took so long,” I start when she grabs a tress of my (h/c) hair and holds it up, showing me the snowflakes still in it.

“Um…what happened here?” she asks and I step back, pulling my hair from her fingers and smiling at her.

“Oh, I got beaned with a snowball by one of those kids over by the market.” I say and Meg casts a stern look outside.

“Oh jeez, which one was it? Was it Joey or-”

“No, no, it’s fine. They’re already getting punished. Extra punishment isn’t going to teach them anything, besides I don’t think they did it on purpose.” I say when a bell rings at the front counter and I see another young girl standing there with _another_ snow shovel. “Business is booming today, huh?” I ask and Meg squeezes my shoulder.

“Oh, hi Julie, you didn’t get detention, did you?” she asks then whispers to me. “No kidding, I’ll get you your key and meet you at your new place.”

“No ma’am, I just wanna go over and help them out.” She says, turning to speak to Meg and giving me a look at her face.

She was like a book character, a natural beauty from a small town in the middle of nowhere. She had long brown hair, straight and perfect; not a hair was out of place and the same fair skin as that Susie girl, only hers was completely clear. Her eyes were almond shaped and an almost glowing green color, long dark lashes and pretty red lips.

How the hell did teenage girls like her always make me feel insecure? I mean, I wasn’t saying I was ugly but I was no Julie, apparently. I was about five feet, had long (h/c) hair that hung to about the middle of my back. I had one or two strands of white in my hair that I knew of but they didn’t stand out enough to be noticeable by others. My skin was clear, fortunately I’d had all my acne trouble in my teens and that went away and stayed away. I had dark circles under my eyes from many a late or sleepless night and I was rather fit for my age, but that’s a given considering my previous line of work. I’ll probably pack on some weight now that I’m not chasing criminals every day.

“Julie…your dad is gonna be pretty angry with me if I give you another shovel. He’s brought them back the last three times you tried this.” Meg tries to plead with the girl but she shakes her head.

“Please Meg, I’ll just tell him I stole it this time!! Please let me go help my friends!” she pleads gently and I walk up to the counter.

“Hey Meg, I was just about to buy that shovel.” I say and the girl looks rather angry that I interrupted but I looked over to her and winked, bringing a relieved smile to her face.

“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” she asks as she hands me the shovel. “Just take it,” she says and I immediately turned and looked up; one security camera.

I glanced over at Meg without moving my head too much and she smiled, waving at us like she was waving goodbye. “They don’t record sound but its high def, choose your words.” She says and lightly tugs on the high collar of her vest, showing that her mouth was hidden by that.

I nod and gesture at the door like I’m ordering Julie to go. “Walk outside and pretend I’m scolding you until we’re out of its view.” I say and Julie’s eyes light up as she mock storms out the door, like a child throwing a tantrum.

Once outside, we duck to the left of the door and I see there’s one more camera but it’s pointed straight down above the door. I turn to Julie and hand her the shovel.

“Thank you,” she says and I nod.

“Sure, I remember being a kid. My friends used to be everything to me but none of my old friends would join me when I got punished. Get going,” I say and she smiles before rushing over to help the three kids now shoveling snow, pulling her hood up.

They look elated to see her and I sigh, somewhat envious of them. Other than Meg, I had no friends from school and I met her in college. I heard the door and looked over to see Meg coming over to me, my key in her hand.

“You just got here and you’re already sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.” She warns, giving it to me.

“I know…I couldn’t help it. I feel like they might not have an adult they trust; kids like that need someone they can depend on.” I say and she punches my shoulder.

“Girl, you’ve been here what? Five whole minutes and you’re already trying to fix this place, this is exactly why I’m so glad you’re here. Everything you touch turns to gold.” She says and I shake my head.

“Great, I’ve got the Mitis Touch.” I say and immediately slap her in her chest, making her groan and laugh. “Aww…no gold titties today, damn.” I say and she punches my shoulder again, a little harder this time.

“You mean bitch,” he laughs and I smile, feeling the metal key in my hand.

Looking down at it I was surprised to see it was a heavy, old key, like the kinds used for giant cartoon padlocks. It was somewhat rusting around the ring of it but otherwise, it was fine. “How old is the place I bought, you said it fit my style?” I say and she nods.

“You’ll get why I said that once you’re there. I gotta man my store for a couple more hours. Go home, get started unpacking and I’ll meet you up there later for some drinks.” She says and pats my back, turning and going back inside her store.

I looked down at the key again and took a deep breath, heading over to my car and knowing I’d have to drive a little way up the mountain to reach my new home.

Once I got the door open, I heard Rusty again and looked up to see he was yelling at the kids. “Julie, you know the rules. Go on home, these three are in detention.” He says and walks over, taking the shovel from her hands. “Meg needs to stop selling you these things, I’ve already told her-”

“Rusty!” I start and he turns to me, so does Julie. “It was me, I thought I was helping out…I’m sorry.” I say and Julie’s eyes are hopeful when he turns back to her.

He lets out a sigh of defeat and gives her back the shovel. “Return that to Miss (l/n) when you’re finished, am I clear young lady?” he asks with his hands on his chubby hips.

“Yes sir, thank you!!” she says giddily and resumes shoveling with her friends, all patting her shoulder and nodding.

Rusty comes over to me and places a heavy arm around my shoulder. “Look, I know you meant well but those four are nothing but trouble. Try to steer clear of those kids.” He says and I tilt my head.

“Why? They seem to just need some structure, a chance?” I offer optimistically but he shakes his head, sadly smiling at me.

“I wish it were that, ever since that new boy moved here…those four have been nothing but trouble for the whole town. Several of the teachers at Fairview have tried their best but, nothing seems to work with them. No punishment makes a difference and if we punish two, the other two will always be there. They’re like a pack of wolves, thick as thieves, although they haven’t stolen anything…yet.” He says and I shake my head.

“I’m sorry sir, I’ll mind my own business from now on.” I say and he pats my shoulder happily.

“No, its alright. Your heart was in the right place and I respect that. We need more good Samaritans around here. Happy to welcome you to Ormond.”


	3. The Lodge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oops...must have missed the turnoff. On your way to your house...you find yourself stuck going up the mountain. What is that looming structure up at the top?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry uploads have been somewhat spotty this passed week, things are going to be picking up again as I am now an Affiliate on Twitch! (I can focus purely on my work!)  
> Be sure to check out my Twitch channel at DeadOnArrivalGirl; I stream DBD most of the week and sing and edit videos for my YouTube channel under the same name.  
> I'm grateful for everything that has happened in the last 48 hours and I'll find some way to show my gratitude properly. I hope to make you proud! Long live The Archive!

The snow bluffs glistened all around me, like piles upon piles of white glitter as I drove up the mountain. Every tree I passed glistened and the branches hung low and round; heavy with snow. I saw maybe one or two houses all with that same flat and stout design with their drive ways shoveled and salted. I’d probably have to do the same thing once I got to mine. Mentally I kicked myself for not even considering that while I was still in town because I don’t have any salt for it…or a shovel.

And I supposedly commandeered a shovel on Julie’s behalf before leaving Meg’s shop. I rubbed my temple with my right hand and winced; hindsight is 20/20…as always. One of the first things I should have thought of when I saw all the snow out here was shovel and my drive way. I should probably just focus on finding the actual street first.

The roads were black and seeming sprinkled with the same glitter that surrounded me. The trees were covered in snow, branches bowing under the weight and massive piles of untouched snow, despite me seeing little paw prints in it every once and a while.

I kept going until I found myself in the looming shadow of this wide-open space, a massive white blanket literally out of nowhere on the slope with a massive building at its apex. I looked up at it, feeling something at the back of my skull urging me forward.

I must have missed the turn somewhere; I look around and don’t see a place where I can turn off…this particular road is too skinny for my truck to make any sort of turn. I guess I’m going all the way up…just to come all the way back down. Shit…it’s gonna be dark by the time I go back down.

I grip the steering wheel a little tighter and keep going, honestly a little worried that I went and got myself lost already. It must be the snow; I’m not used to everything being covered and having no land markers to determine where I am.

It didn’t matter how small Ormond was, with the snow…it may as well have been the maze from _The Shining_. The road up the mountain was winding and carried so many sharp turns I had to slow my pace to a near crawl; 20mph at the fastest…sometimes slower. I didn’t want to run the risk of smashing into the barricades or being the unfortunate newbie that died on her way to her new house.

Finally getting to the entrance, I saw the long since defaced sign that once read ‘Mount Ormond Resort’ but it was covered with graffiti. It now read **Dead Lands; None Shall Pass.**

Edgy teens or adults who didn’t know how to be adults yet…if ever. As I made to turn around and go back down the mountain, there was a violent stop in my truck and I jerked forward. I managed to keep from hitting my head on the wheel but I gasped in shock as my car idled.

I turned off my truck and got out, taking care in not slipping this time and going around to look at my truck. The front right tire of my truck was stuck in a deep pothole…this couldn’t possibly be happening right now.

“Fuck me…” I grumbled when I turned and looked at the looming building, starting to feel extremely alone right now.

I wasn’t going to be able to get my truck out of there by myself…and I’m on a fucking mountain top; cell service is out of the question. On the off chance that maybe I had a bar or two, I tried but the big red X over my bars confirmed what I already knew.

I looked back and figured; this place looks pretty abandoned but I can see what appears to be a pickaxe leaning against a wall at the top of one of the many balconies this place had. I mean…if I had more room to move, I could gain some momentum and probably hop out of the hole. Drastic of course, but I’m all alone in a strange place with no one to help me and no other options. I’ll just try to think of something else on my way up, if I don’t think of anything by the time I get back down here, I’ll just consider this to be my last resort.

“Ha…resort…pfft.” I muttered to myself and turned around, making my way back into my truck.

I kneeled on my drivers’ seat and snatched at the glove compartment handle, revealing my registration and my firearm. While I no longer had the one provided to me by the unit, I did have a license to carry so I slide the holster onto my hip and stepped outside.

I was about to close my door when my phone beeped and I gasped; I had **_one bar_**. One shot at this reaching anyone. I dialed Meg and it went straight to voicemail; of course, she’s still working.

“Hey Meg, I think I missed the turn and ended up here at this resort. My car is stuck in a pothole so I’m gonna try to get out of it and get to my new place. If you haven’t heard from me by the time you start towards my place…come save me. Later,” I say and hang up, stuffing my phone into the glove compartment and locking up my truck.

I started into the building, feeling extremely apprehensive as I walked up to the looming structure. It had seen much better days, there were still tarps and wood filling in where glass likely once sat. The place was also covered in graffiti, varying in design and style. From the little stint I did in the gang unit, I could vaguely tell that there were maybe four or five people responsible and at least one of them was a girl.

Entering the building, I could see this built in circular couch set imbedded in the floor, with three skinny steps leading down into it. At its center was what I’m sure once was a beautiful firepit with a chimney that lead up into the ceiling. Not too far away from that was a massive hole in the ceiling with icicles hanging in.

Damn…this place is fucked up. There were some stairs to my right so I turned and started up, there were two landings that lead up to the second level. It overlooked the entire first floor of the lodge and lead up into other rooms, most of them barren of no more than a shelf and a few left behind materials and boxes.

I walked over towards where I’d seen the leaning pickaxe and saw the open doorway that lead out onto the long balcony. With all the snow lining the rail, I’m amazing that hadn’t caved in like the ceiling in the lobby. I saw the pickaxe leaning up against the wall and I started out towards it, only for the car alarm to stop me.

I turned and looked over the rail and saw three kids, all wearing masks and jackets surrounding my car. One was already in the driver’s seat while the other two seemed to be talking frantically.

“HEY!” I yelled and they looked up, immediately turning to the one inside and seeming to rush them. “Damn it!!” I turned on my heel to run back inside but the floor under my foot gave out. At first, just my leg went through but the weight from my groin hitting the neglected wood forced it to break more and my whole lower half went through the wood.

I screamed in surprise, my arms splaying out to keep me from falling any further. My legs swung and almost pulled me the rest of the way into the hole, that momentum alone scaring the hell out of me. My finger tips were dug into the tiniest of spaces between the planks that made up this walkway and I thanked my lucky stars it was enough to keep me from falling.

I gasped and struggled to pull myself up but that sparse grip I had on the wood wasn’t going to be enough for me to hoist myself up. I looked around, breathing hard and trying to think of a way to get out of this when I heard footsteps inside and fast approaching.

I looked up and saw this rather lithe looking guy come out of the door where the pickaxe was leaning, but I couldn’t see his face; he was wearing a hoodie and not looking at me yet. I let out this frantic sounding whimper and he whipped around to look at me, shooting fear through my veins as I took in the messily written smiley face on his mask.

This was just getting worse and worse, not only was my car about to be stolen but now I’m hanging on for dear life and I’m outnumbered 4 to 1! I kept trying to get myself up but I lost my grip for a moment and slid down a little more, gasping and crying out like a frightened cat. I kept clinging to the boards, waiting anxiously for this guy to move.

He finally did and my heart sank, he grabbed the handle of the pickaxe; slowly and meticulously picking it up and looking from it to me, slowly. I didn’t want to show any semblance of subservience here but I was looking at either falling to my death or being pickaxed to death…I tried to plead with him.

“Please…” I started and he approached me, still holding the pickaxe like a baseball bat in his hands. “I’m not looking for trouble, I was just lost!” I tried but my grip was starting to slip.

He was now standing maybe three feet away from me; prime swinging distance for his weapon of choice. He suddenly knelt down and extended the rounded end of the axe to me, holding onto the handle tightly. I didn’t hesitate; I snatched at it and once I had a grip he stood up and pulled back, letting out a loud grunt as he did. I was now laying on my side on the much more stable feeling boards and gasping for air. I knew he was still standing there but a soft thump on the floor told me that he’d put the pickaxe down.

Once I’d mostly caught my breath, I looked up at him and he stepped forward, reaching his hand out to me. His hands were calloused, he liked to tinker with things…something dirty since his fingertips were somewhat black. His palms were wrapped in what appeared to be medical tape and below the mask, I could see what appeared to be a skull tattoo but I couldn’t make out much else. Just as I got the idea to accept his help, my car alarm stopped and he jerked back, slowly walking away from me. The way he squared his shoulders and clenched his fists told me that he was considering something but I wasn’t sure what when he turned and ran away, disappearing from my view and the sound of his footsteps faded away quickly.

I took a moment and caught my breath, feeling so confused and the adrenaline pumping through my veins blinded me to the ache I was probably going to feel between my legs after this. Once I wasn’t breathing so hard, I slowly got to my feet and while I couldn’t feel any pain right now, I could feel that was a tear in my pants along my right inner thigh…damn it…I liked these ones.

I carefully but quickly looked over the rail and saw that while the alarm had indeed stopped…my door was still ajar and my car was about 10 feet from where I’d left it.

I turned and ran into the lodge and down the stairs before I stopped near the front door. I didn’t know where those four had gone but I wasn’t about to be ambushed. I pulled my gun and clicked off the safety, pointing the barrel at the ground and steadying my breath before raising it towards my car and stepping outside in one fluid motion.

No one, I saw no one and nothing around my car; where had they vanished too so fast? I pointed the barrel down again as I quickly went to my truck and checked the backseat of my cab, nothing. No one in the bed or anything missing. I stepped back and looked down…seeing the small line of boards behind my tires that lead from the pothole.

_Rebels with a cause…_

Meg did mention once that people out here enjoy their privacy…I didn’t think she was this serious about it though. I’d chosen a strange town to call my new home…but I was still grateful. I holstered my weapon and turned to look at the building; seeing no one and nothing. I could also see where I’d fallen through the floor of that balcony; I definitely would have broken something if I’d fallen.

I waved at the building and called out. “Thank you…” I started when I reached into my car and found one of my old business cards from the precinct. I snatched it and held it up to the building, hoping at the very least, to make peace with these unseen helpers. “This is my card…I’m new here so feel free to throw it out. If you want help with something…call me; bring this full circle.” I said and lightly placed the card on the ground, got into my car, starting it up and driving away.

With one quick glance in my rearview mirror, I could see someone rush out, snatch my card and disappear back inside.


	4. The Carpenter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally arriving at your new home...it's not what you expected at all, but there is always more than just appearances. Oh, the phone is ringing.

I saw this massive triangle shaped thing in the distance and at first, I thought I was seeing things, it was a cabin…my cabin.

From a distance, it looked small…but I knew I’d have to get closer to see it at its full size…which was huge! The front had two rows of tall glass windows that seemed to reach from floor to ceiling. There was a chimney sticking out of the top and a balcony with at least a few years’ worth of dead leaves buried under another layer of snow. There were no lights inside so I figured everything was just as bad inside and I started to doubt Meg.

She said I was going to like it…that it fit me and what she figured I needed right now. I swear if this was her idea of a joke, she would be receiving a very strongly worded phone call.

I got out of my truck, locked it up and started walking towards it when my foot sank much deeper than I was expecting it to. My ankle made this loud pop sound and I shrieked in surprise as I fell flat into the snow, almost being buried by it. I raised my head and saw that if I had wanted to, I could have just laid flat and hidden on my own front lawn!

Jeez this is a lot of fucking snow! I forced myself up and started limping towards the cabin, feeling my ankle aching from having rolled it so hard. Damn it, I hate this feeling.

Finally reaching the front porch I could see a little better now how the front of my house was structured. The ground floor was actually narrower than I had first thought, since that large triangle shape I’d seen was the front of the cabins roof extending almost all the way down to the ground. The roof over the balcony on the second level slanted at less of an incline so it stuck out like a flap on the side of this thing. I also noticed that the balcony was not a mirror effect in the architecture, it was the only balcony on the left of the building, my right, as I stood before it.

I couldn’t see into the first floor as the windows were covered with thick curtains and from the bare edges that I could see within, there was a sheer cover on the other side to make it look pretty. I looked up and while I couldn’t see the second floor at all, I could see that the two windows at either end of that four-pane row had their outer corners clipped to match the shape of this huge triangle roof.

It was unlike any house I’d seen while living in the city, everything in the city was sleek and modern, sharp and sparkly. This was more rustic looking, which wasn’t a problem per say…I was just worried about the interior and how bad it might end up looking…if that balcony was any indicator.

I found the front door actually underneath the balcony, a little lantern hanging over it but the bulb within it was broken. Too bad, it looks like it would cast a pretty light.

I stuck my key into the lock and I actually half expected it to break…but it held firm and opened the heavy wooden door with a loud click.

Alright…let’s see if I regret this decision any more than I already have.

Pushing the door open…it was still practically pitch-black inside so I just hurried myself inside and closed the door behind me. It wasn’t that light out anymore anyways so I started limping around and feeling my way around when my finger tapped something smooth but hard. I recoiled by instinct but laid my hand against it slowly and recognized the texture as a cardboard box, this sent a lightbulb off in my head.

Were my things already moved in here? I hadn’t even seen the movers since I got here…did I really take that long to get out here? No wonder Meg called me.

Sadly, the little bulb in my head did me no favors in the dark so I kept feeling my way over the boxes, seeing that they’d been stacked up together beside what I could only assume was the wall. I felt a little uneasy as I wasn’t sure how high up they went and I pictured them finding me in the morning, crushed by my many boxes because I chose to walk around in the dark.

I keep reaching around, trying to find some section of the wall not covered by boxes with hopes of finding a light switch, when I was startled by the sound of the phone ringing. I couldn’t even manage to find it because it seemed to bounce off the walls of this place, the whole room was filled with the sound of it blaring like an alarm.

I frantically dug into my pocket for my phone but once I pulled it out and tapped the screen, nothing happened. Fricken…great, I can’t fucking see! At least there’s a land line incase something does happen; I’m not completely stranded.

_Hey, you’ve reached the home of (f/n)! If this is Ace…please only reach out to her through your lawyer! Anyone else, she’s single and ready to get it ON! Bow chicka wow wow!_

Meg…I’m actually going to kill you.

_BEEP_

_Hello Mrs. Visconti-ahem, um Miss (l/n) …This is Jane Romero, I’ll be representing Mr. Visconti. I’m calling to inform you that Ace would like for you to come in so we can discuss the terms of your paperwork.”_

I thought my stomach just did a back flip at the sound of that bitch on the phone. He was _still_ using her for this? Of all the people on earth he could have gotten to be his fucking lawyer…he chose _her_?!!

 _“See, there seems to be a few discrepancies with the papers you provided and due to the prenup you signed, we have to ensure that you aren’t trying to sneak any of Ace’s assets out from under him.”_ Her voice was absolutely condescending and I actually started storming towards where I thought the sound was coming from.

“What fucking assets?! He’s in fucking debt to-” I’m cut off by colliding my rolled ankle into something solid and I screamed as I fell and hit my face on the floor, my nose exploding with pain!

“FUCK!” I yelled and Jane just kept talking. The really fucked up part, is that I don’t think she would have stopped talking if she’d been standing in the same room as me.

_“There could be a suit filed against you for this **considerable** oversight, but Ace has insisted that he wants to speak to you first as a sign of good faith. I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement, please contact me so we can schedule a time to go over this. I’ve also been made aware of your new living arrangements. Please be sure to provide us your new address and source of income.”_

I curled up into a ball on the floor as I could feel my heart breaking all over again. My head was absolutely throbbing at this point, I couldn’t see anything and I just kept seeing that horrible woman over and over again. My nose felt like fire was pouring out of it but I knew it was blood…I didn’t move, nor bother to wipe it away.

Oversight…good faith…some sort of agreement…fucking bitch.

I let the fire pour from my nose and eyes, my chest aching and my hands tucked between my thighs. I was curled up like a pill bug and I wish I had its strong exterior to protect myself. I was not nearly as fortunate; a little critter that lived in the dirt and hid from all its problems…was better off than me. Me, a decorated officer with enough smarts and experience to go back home and head my old unit…am no better than a measly little insect.

This…isn’t…happening. David and I poured over that agreement for weeks before I dropped it off, what could have possibly been missed?! I made sure that everything was perfect, he keeps his shit, I keep mine; nothing more and nothing less. I send the papers, he signs them, sends them back and we’re no longer husband and wife!!

_I’m not letting go without a fight because I love you!_

His voice echoed in my head from our last argument when I told him I wanted a divorce. I loved him still too but…I can’t handle him coming home whenever, drunk or too exhausted from gambling all fucking night!

He stopped treating me like a wife once he was comfortable again.

I’ve faced hardened criminals, been in fire fights with drug lords and held a child’s hand before they faced their predator in court. I’ve done countless acts of bravery and rescue…I was a hardened officer who fought for the good of the public…yet Ace. He was the one person I’d met who turned my diamond rough exterior into molten mush with a single look, I felt like I was in a dream when we were together…but now?

Why can’t he just let me go?!

I sobbed like a child, my emotions flooding out of me through my tears, when I heard the door clicking as someone unlocked it. Meg was early and _boy_ was she in for it when she came in.

“Hello? Miss (f/n)?” a man’s voice and I sat up. Raising my head and halting my sobs; I see the silhouette of a man in the doorway when I’m hit with a flashlight beam. I raised a hand to block the beam, unable to tell who this person is. “Oh my God! Are you alright?!” he rushes over to me and kneels down before me.

“Um…yeah, I…fell?” I say, hoping he didn’t notice the slight inflection to that. I let him lightly touch my jaw to turn my head; seeming to examine my nose. The beam from his light actually warmed my cold skin a little and I he hummed as he looked carefully at my nose.

“Ok, stay right here; I’m gonna go turn on the power. I wasn’t expecting you to be here already, I would have had them on already.” He frets then leaves the flashlight with me and runs out the door, leaving it slightly ajar.

The chilly air from outside creeps in and I hadn’t even realized but I’d begun to sweat. My forehead and cheeks and upper lip growing cold almost immediately as that air began to fill the room.

I must be completely out of it because I just laid back on the floor, flicked off the light and just stared up at the blackness above me. The air out here…smelled incredible.

It was clean and fresh and felt so good to breathe in deeply as I just…existed for a moment. I wasn’t even sure who this guy was yet, he talked about the power and called me Miss so…maybe a groundskeeper or electrician? I heard something flicker and was practically blinded as the bulbs flickered and lit up the whole place.

I’d had to cover my eyes and blink several times with my hands over my eyes, slowly ridding me off the ache from the flash. Once that was gone, I slowly moved my hands away from my eyes and my jaw dropped…is this real?

There is a stone fireplace sticking out of the wall, slightly elevated off the hardwood floors. Dark stained support beams with soft cream walls, the kitchen was small but had granite counter tops and a shiny black and silver stove.

There was a short hall to some double doors that lead outside, glass windows making up their center but bordered in that same dark stained wood. There was a washer and dryer stacked beside the doors and that man came in through one of those doors.

“There we go, looks like they only set up the land line and forgot to flip the other breakers. Everything should be up and running now.” He says and approaches me, this soft smile on his face.

He’s roughly average height, black rimmed glasses and short black hair, a little spikey from being styled that way. His skin was fair and his eyebrows were thick, he was skinny looking but not unfit looking. He was wearing a black button up with the sleeves rolled up, black gloves and a black watch on his right wrist. His pants were also black but appeared to be covered in sawdust, with black work boots to match.

“Thank you,” I say and he rushes over, pulling out a handkerchief and handing it to me. “I’d introduce myself but it seems like you already know my name.” I say, trying not to sound nasally as I pressed the cloth to my nose.

“Oh, sorry. I’m Dwight, I’m just the carpenter.” He says offering me his gloved hand with a smile.

His smile fades though as I look at him, confused and not taking his outstretched hand. “Carpenter? Was something wrong with the place?” I asked and he seemed to grow more nervous all of a sudden.

“Um…no? I was just checking it out to make sure everything was set up right.” He says and clears his throat while I’m still just staring at him. “Um…I built it…just checking to make sure-”

“Wait, _what_? You built this place? Ground up?” I asked and he nodded, looking a little frightened as I looked around quickly. “You built this,” I said again, somewhat breathlessly and more of a statement than a question.

“Yeah…Meg said that you would like it this way, I’m sorry if it’s not what you expected. I can fix whatever you don’t like for a reduced rate, if you like.” He offers and I just look back to him, my eyes starting to feel dry from how wide they were.

“No! It’s beautiful, I thought…Meg said she was handling the sale for me but I didn’t know she was having my place built for me!” I said and he smiled, his brown eyes lighting up at my delight.

“Yeah, I owed Meg a favor so I did this project for a discount.” He says, walking over to the wall and placing a gloved hand on the dark beam. “Staining the fir was a little tricky since they usually have red or blond colors to their timber, but I think it came out rather nice.” He says, looking at the place like a work of art, this warm admiration in his eyes.

“It’s amazing, I’m gonna need to ask Meg what kind of favor you owed her.” I say and he laughs, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

“Hey, make friends in the right places.” He says when the phone rings again and I felt my heart leap into my throat but I remained still. “Aren’t…aren’t you going to get that?”

“No, I um…tissue?” I ask and the color in his cheeks drained almost immediately.

“Oh! Yeah, bathroom is right over here! Follow me.” He rushes back to those double doors and opened a door between the laundry area and back doors.

As I went towards that area, I discretely unplugged the land line and the ringing stopped. Now that the ringing had stopped, I followed Dwight and saw my bathroom.

“We decided to keep the bathroom more modern, as much as people claim to love the rustic aesthetic; they have a few misgivings about the plumbing. We have a chrome finish and all the tile in here has that wood finish. The tub and toilet are pearl porcelain and the sink is the same dark chocolate brown as the support beams in the living area.” He says and hands me a small cluster of toilet paper.

The tub was indeed a pearly white porcelain color, walled in on three sides and the only way in was through the pristine glass door with a silvery handle. I couldn’t see the showerhead until I looked at the ceiling and saw that it was a large square panel built into it. There was some shelving space built into the wall and I even walked around Dwight to look at the rest of the bathroom. Just in front of the tub was the sink, mounted into the wall with a rectangular mirror above that. The largest wall on the shower wasn’t the end of the room, there was actually a narrow space behind it where the toilet resided with two skinny doors on either side for storage. This far back wall of the building had that same modern look to the rest of the bathroom, with a few narrow windows up near the ceiling.

“I wanted to put some blinds up to begin with but I figured you might want to pick what they look like.” He says and I actually lose grip on my nose for a moment as I take it in…this is _mine_ …my new home.

“Oh!” I hear and look down to see I’m dripping blood onto the floor.

The dark droplets of my blood look almost brown as they hit the wood designed tile and I step back, not wanting to bleed on my shoes too. Dwight gently takes the tissue from my hand and places it under my nose, placing a hand on my shoulder and having me lean forward. “It’s better to let it flow out, in my experience it’s no fun when you get blood clots in the back of your throat.”

“Agreed, thank you.” I say and look up at him, holding eye contact for a long moment.

His cheeks started to turn pink again before he looked down and focused on his hands and not my eyes. He’s pretty handsome, he’s got that delicate jawline that makes me think he was probably picked on a lot as a kid. His eyes were narrow and focused, a few creases between his brows; he worries a lot.

“You’re a nervous person,” I say without thinking and he looks back up at me.

“I’m sorry?” he says and I laugh a little.

“You’ve got a few wrinkles in the dead center of your forehead, it shows that you scrunch up your brow a lot. You’d have more wrinkles if you scowled a lot, that would tell me that you’re angry. You’d have less if you were more laid back, it would tell me that you don’t emote with your face much. That and your nailbeds are completely history on all ten of your fingers; nervous nail biter and your hair may be styled but its messy because you run your hands through it a lot.” I say and he chuckles.

“Holy crap…you…hit the nail on the head. In school they called me the Nervous Nerd; are you some kind of medium?” he asks, lightly pressing the tissue against my nose again.

“No, but I appreciate the compliment.” I say and he pulls away, the tissue looking red but my nose wasn’t gushing anymore.

I lightly pressed the back of my wrist against my upper lip and nothing came away with it so I figured it was fine now. Dwight tosses the tissue into the nearby waste bin before turning back to me.

“Seriously, how’d you know all of that?” he asked and went over to the sink to wash some of the blood smears from his fingers.

“Uh…call it a party trick.” I say awkwardly and despite his back being to me, I flirtatiously twist in my spot.

Ok…could I be anymore pathetic right now? I haven’t even been here a day and I’m already looking for a rebound!

“Oh, also…before I forget.” He says, turning to me and wiping his hands on another cloth that he must have had in his pocket. “There’s a nature preserve behind the property; my friend Jake lives out there.” He says, scratching the back of his head; awkward…he’s nervous again.

“Oh, does he like, run the preserve?” I asked and he looked physically uncomfortable.

“No…he doesn’t really have a job.” He starts and that’s when I cross my arms and lean against the wall. “Meg said that if anyone would understand how Jake likes to live, you would so I…wanted to hopefully talk about that…as well.” He says nervously, seeming to notice how annoyed I look.

“Ah, is _that_ the real reason you came over today?” I asked and he shook his head frantically.

“No! I did actually come over to look at the house but…I just wanted to mention that before I left, maybe convince you to let him stay there?” He said and I tilted my head.

“Um…if he’s on a nature preserve then…its none of my business. He’s not going to be a creep and perv out on me or something, right?” I asked and he shook his head frantically.

“NO! Of course not!! I’d never ask you to let him stay if he were like that! He’s just anti-social and he’s never just asked someone where their property line ends so…he’s been arrested a few times for trespassing despite not knowing. Not to say that he’s a criminal or anything like that-ooh…I’m not explaining this very well, am I?” he stammers, grabbing the back of his head with both hands and looking down at the floor.

“No…but since Meg trusts you, I trust you and by extension; I will trust your friend. Jake, you said?” I say and you’d think I’d just given him a million bucks.

His face absolutely lit up and he smiled at me, it was rather cute to see that kind of expression on a man. Whenever Ace was happy, he was calm and collected; confident and _extremely_ full of himself. Dwight didn’t seem like he got happy about things often…how sweet.

“Yes, even if you run into him, he’s very polite just…quiet.” He says quickly and I nod.

“Ah, so he’s shy.” I say but he shakes his head and I stand up away from the wall, putting my hands on my hips.

“No, he just…lacks real social skills. He’s my best friend so it’s not my business to speak of but, if you meet him you can ask him. He’s quiet but if you ask about him, he’ll tell you.” He says and I nod.

“Alright, I’ll take your word for it.” My attention is then drawn to the wrought iron black spiral stairs that lead up to a second level. “What’s up there?”

“That’s the loft, it serves as your bed room. Here, this is actually something that Jake recommended for it.” He says and starts up the stairs, me following close behind him.

Up on the second level, I’m met with a triangular room with sloping walls and those same dark chocolate colored support beams. The walls were a softer and warmer blond and there were two skylights on the two high sloping walls, showing me the night sky above me. I could watch the sun rise and set this way.

“Wow…this is breathtaking.” I said and I turned to see him leaning against the wall, his hand against the beam.

“I’m glad you like it; this is the part that Jake recommended.” He says and pulls this tall Japanese panel out of seemingly nowhere and points at the beam directly across from it and behind me.

I touch it and find that there’s a small dip in the wood, that my fingers hook onto and start pulling until I bumped into Dwight’s shoulder and allowed him to take over and close the doors. They were made of several tall and skinny wood panels that all linked up and neatly folded over each other to create this divider.

“He said that his mother deeply valued privacy so when I said this house was for a woman, he said that the bedroom area needed a door. I took some inspiration from his Oriental heritage and built something into the plan that was both effective but also maintained space.”

“This place is amazing Dwight, thank you so much for this. I owe you and Meg a few rounds of drinks.” I say and his eyes light up.

“Hey, if you’re buying; I know the perfect place.” He says and I gesture for him to lead the way.


	5. The English Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The glorious town of Ormond has everything you could need; a bar, scenic views and a band of friends that welcome you with open arms! That being said however, not all the faces in Ormond are friendly and some are completely faceless...what a strange little town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to get out, I've been super busy with building up my twitch channel which has become my main source of income. I'm still working out a definitive schedule to complete all my projects within a timely manner without burning myself out. It's strange, not going out to get to work every day.  
> Next update should come much faster than this. (again, I'm sorry it took so long)

Dwight waited outside for me to get changed into more climate friendly attire, which took longer than I wanted since I ended up searching for almost ten minutes for the boxes with my clothes in them. I ultimately ended up going with a black turtleneck sweater with too long sleeves, black jeans and an old pair of snow boots that I used maybe twice before. Glad I found them before I went out and bought a brand-new pair.

I couldn’t find anything for a hat so I just scoffed at the box, snatched my wallet and keys from the floor and rushed out the door. I would have forgotten to lock it if it weren’t for that big ass key ringing my bell. I jogged towards the road, feeling much more stable now that I had the proper footwear and saw Dwight leaning on my car hood, looking a little smug.

“What’s with that look?” I asked and he pointed behind me, the long patch of snow that lead up to the field beside my new house.

“That is the road that leads up to your driveway,” he then points at my car. “You parked in the middle of the road.” He starts snickering and I cover my mouth, actually embarrassed.

“Oh…no! I thought that was just a field!” I said and he had to lean on his knees he was laughing so hard. I had half a mind to push him over but then I got an idea.

I rushed over to my car, opened the door and pushed down on the horn, startling him into jumping almost a full foot in the air. He whipped around to look at me and I fell onto the seat, now I was laughing and I could hear him shouting from outside…but I couldn’t understand it.

Once we were done laughing at each other, I followed his truck down the mountain and back into town. He drove a fat green truck with a canopy over the bed and I could see a multitude of tools and the like inside. On the side of the truck I saw in big white letters ‘Fairfield Carpentry’ and then the number to call.

He lead me to a building that I actually remembered from when I went all the way up earlier, it was one of the stout buildings I’d seen before but now it was lit up with Christmas lights and red neon. The red neon was a rose blinking at me and then behind that a curvy set of white neon lit up as if it were being written before my eyes. _The English Rose_.

“A friend of mine owns this bar, I figured we could get some free drinks out of him to celebrate your being new in town.” He says then points at the bar, that same awkward smile on his face. “Also, bare in mind that he might try to steal you away.” He says when a swift slap to the back of the head by an older man makes Dwight bow his head, grabbing the back of his hair.

“David enjoys women like sweet wine, good evening Dwight.” He goes inside and Dwight waves after him.

I just stare when Dwight’s face lights up pink and he looks away from me, still rubbing the back of his head.

“That’s Bill, sneaky old timer…” he mutters the last part.

“Like wine?” I asked, trying to think of how I enjoy my wine.

“I really shouldn’t say, I’ll get smacked again…who knows where Bill snuck off to.” He says then holds the door open for me.

“Such a gentleman.” I say as I enter and he points over my shoulder at the bar. “Don’t worry about me with him, let’s just get some drinks. I could use a stiff one,” I say and I hear Dwight clear his throat. I realized too late what I said and turned to him, covering my mouth. “Oops, I’ll be sure to avoid those phrases around David.”

“Thank you,” his eyes express how grateful he is to that.

“Am I safe to assume that David gives free drinks to whoever he wants to take home?” I ask and Dwight laughs.

“Ha, nope. He’s handsome and muscular, he’s also actually English so he doesn’t want his drinks to get in the way. If anything, he actually makes drinks weaker when he wants to take you home.” He says and I guess my raised eyebrows were expected. “Yeah, that’s kinda the look a lot of girls give me when I say that.”

The bar was this beautiful rustic looking bar with big wooden walls, a glossy finish to them. There was one flat screen mounted to the wall behind the bar but it was currently off. The sound of soft rock drifting around the room, I quickly found the speakers mounted by the entrance, kitchen door and by the hall that-according to the sign-lead to the bathroom.

The lights that hung from the ceiling, instead of lamps were giant, white rose shaped shades and the lights within flickered like flame, giving this strangely romantic look to them. To add, each of the round wood tables had the bar logo burned into the wood with the petals painted red. The chairs were also a warm stained wood color with red cushion seats, no arm rests.

The bar stools were black leather and the bar was this glossy black granite with white cracks all throughout it for style. I could see the bar taps behind the counter, the many clean glasses set on the shelves. Above that was a glass cabinet with extremely ornate looking goblets and wine glasses.

“Wow, this is…incredible.” I say, sitting down at the bar.

“You’ve never been to a bar before?” he asks, looking concerned but I shake my head.

“Oh, I’ve been to plenty of bars but nothing this nice, maybe I’m just poisoned to them.” I say and he sits down beside me.

“What kind of bars have you been to?” he asks, crossings his arms and resting his elbows on the bar.

“A few around my hometown, then again I usually ended up in a bar during patrol so I never really got to enjoy one. I guess you could say this is my first bar I can actually enjoy.” I say and just as I say that, the door from the kitchen swings open and a man with bulging muscles threatening his shirt sleeves comes out.

He’s holding two large plates of food-that smells amazing-with sizzling fries on the side. He’s this handsome rugged looking guy, soft stubble on his chin and a militant shaved hairstyle of a hazelnut brown. His eyes were this inviting golden brown and as his eyes swept the room, he found us and smiled, showing his equally suave smile.

“Dwight, there you are!” He says with a thick British accent that sends blood rushing to my cheeks. “I was worried you weren’t gonna show up, just a sec.” he says and goes over to a table where an elderly man and woman are seated by the window.

I watch him as he sets the food down and chats with the old man for a moment, getting a hearty pat to his shoulder in response and the woman’s face lighting up as she smiled. When David turned to walk away, they looked at each other romantically before resuming their conversation and digging in.

As he gets closer, he looks at me and leans on the bar beside me and makes a big show of it too, making me giggle. He can’t be serious? He takes my hand and brings it to his lips. “And who is this lovely lady here?” he gently pecks the back of my hand and let go.

“This lovely lady is (f/n), it’s nice to meet you. Dwight says this is your bar.” I say and Dwight jumped up and elbowed David in the side, barely registering to David as he looked at the slightly shorter of the two.

David looked to be about 5’7 and Dwight was about 5, maybe 5’1. “You can’t get us drinks first before you try to hit on her. Besides, she’s Meg’s friend, the one who’s moving here.” He says and this realization comes into his eyes.

“Oh! You’re the fabled ‘Bestie’ that she’s been talking about,” he says and starts to walk away but swats Dwight on the back of the head, almost knocking his glasses off. “Hang on, I’ll go get us some drinks. What do you like?” he asks and I smiled.

“Shit…surprise me. I like mixed drinks though.” I say and David’s eyes sparkle a bit.

“Ooh, a woman after my own heart. I’ll get you some Love Potion.” He says and I find myself captivated by the show he makes of setting up the drink for me.

A chilled margarita glass from a fridge behind the bar. He tosses a few strawberries into a glass and starts mashing them with the muddler as he smirks at me. “I want my teeth to hurt when I drink it,” I say and his eyes get big.

“You like to taste the strawberry or you like it sweet?” he asks and I nod, look at the fine paste he was making out of the strawberries.

“Ah, super sweet.” He says when a man with a big black beard seats himself beside Dwight and delivers another swat up the back of his head with a massive pad of paper.

“You’re later than usual today, big work load?” he asks and Dwight smiles at him.

“Not today, just showing (f/n) her new home. The big project that I had been working on was for her, on Meg’s behalf.” He then looks back at me and smiles, pointing at the man. “This is Jeff, he designed the logo for this place and actually is the one who created the house beer that he brews himself.”

Dwight is quickly stopped with another swift smack to the back of the head with Jeff’s paper pad.

“Don’t go telling everyone, what if people started believing you?” he says, taking a drink from a bottle marked with a big, red rose and I smiled.

He’s currently drinking his own beer, I looked over at David who was just straining my cocktail and carefully set it down before me. This almost fluorescent pink drink with some sparkle in it and I gasped.

“Ooh, someone has edible glitter. Fancy,” I say and toast him before taking a sip.

“It’s a joy to see ladies faces light up when they see the glitter…a few blokes too.” There’s this long pause where Dwight just kinda stares at him and I wait when David grabs a couple bottles out of an unseen fridge and holds them up. “Never usually remember their entire visits but damn, they sure know how to drink!” He then delivers a bottle to Jeff and Dwight before then goes down the bar, replacing a few empty ones to other patrons.

I looked at Dwight before taking another drink from my glass. It was sweet enough that I couldn’t even taste the liquor in it, that being said; I resisted the urge to just down the whole thing.

“Well, he’s sure animated, isn’t he?” I say as I greedily take another sip.

“David’s a people person, he says that one of the best ways a person can get comfortable is over a pint. He like’s making people comfortable.” Dwight says before picking up the bottle and taking a drink. “Jeff is the same, he’s a sweet guy even though he looks like a giant bear. He can also brew a surprisingly sweet beer-OW!” Dwight is interrupted by yet another swat to the back of his head.

I turned to see that it was older man from before, Bill and he’s holding a half empty beer stein as he glares at Dwight.

“Don’t start with that ‘bitter’ bullshit again, it’s an acquired taste.” He says and sits down on Jeff’s other side.

“So, you just keep drinking it until you _don’t_ hate it anymore?” I mutter against the rim of my glass and Bill turns his glare to me.

Jeff and Dwight bow their heads and snort silently before Jeff puts a hand on Dwight’s shoulder.

“I like her Dwight; she puts the old man in his place-GAH!” Jeff says and Bill delivers a quick slap to the back of his head as well.

“I’m too old to keep kicking your asses,” he says and drinks from his mug, getting some of the foam on his mustache.

“Sorry Bill, you know we love you.” Jeff says and pats the man’s shoulder loudly.

“I couldn’t resist, I have beer elitist friends back home so it was instinctive.” I say and Dwight smiles before taking another drink.

The sound of the door opening has me turn to glance at whoever it is that just walked in and I’m surprised to see its Meg! I hopped off the stool and started towards her. “What the hell are you doing in here?” I asked loudly and everyone turned to look but Meg’s face lit up as she came straight for me.

“What the hell? I was about to get a bottle of wine and head up to the resort to get you but I guess you didn’t need any help; as per usual.” she comes over and hugs me tight before guiding me back up to the bar.

“What can I say accept, oops?” I say and she shoves me towards my stool before slapping Dwight upside the head, knocking his glasses to the tip of his nose. “Is that the universal greeting for Dwight?” I asked.

“It’s an inside joke from college and it requires more than one beer for me to go into though.” He immediately downs the rest of his bottle and slams it down on the bar before raising it up and shaking it.

Jeff laughs this jovial, booming laugh and claps a hand on Dwight’s back as Meg drapes her vest over the stool on my other side and sits on it.

“Yes, he’s drinking everyone! David, can we get a round of shots please?!” Meg calls out and I hear David somewhere behind me. I lightly nudge Dwight with my elbow and he looks up at me, his face a light red color.

“Are you gonna be good to get home after this?” I ask and he nods.

“Yeah, these guys like to get me drunk but someone usually gets me home.” He says and that’s when Meg laughs.

“Usually, unless we lose track of him…” she says and she ends up receiving a small swat upside the head from behind me. I almost missed it but Dwight actually reached around my head to swipe at her. “I’m kidding!” she yelps and I smile as she shoves my shoulder playfully.

“I bet you didn’t think you’d find a bar that wasn’t housing a surprise fight club, huh?” Meg teases and I nod.

“I also didn’t think I’d be drinking this soon, I thought I had at _least_ another hour or two.” I said and down the last of my drink.

Damn, that really was sweet…I’m gonna have to watch my ass with those.

The next two hours end up flying by as we get introductions out of the way. Jeff and David are the owners of _The English Rose_ , Bill is a war veteran who’s lived all over the world and wanted to settle down here. Meg says that there are still a few others to their group but they’re not here tonight, Claudette and Jake.

That name rings a bell and I look over at Dwight who quickly downs another bottle, what is that, five? His ‘live off the land’ friend who supposedly inhabits the woods around my new home.

I looked around me and smiled softly, the sugary taste on my lips almost forgotten. This was a genuinely warm setting, despite the snow outside. I’d stopped going out with friends when my marriage started falling apart, I didn’t feel the need to do anything outside of what was required of me. I just didn’t have the energy to do anything other than work and argue with Ace when he was home. There was no in between for any of it.

My eyes drifted down to my martini glass and I lightly swayed the glass to shift the edible glitter inside. The sparkles dancing around in the liquor kept my attention, I was considering just getting absolutely hammered tonight…but I had to get my truck home.

My head began to go over everything that I did wrong, I must have done something to make Ace want to hide at the casinos all the time. Maybe it wasn’t too late to find the problem and fix it? Ace was trying to talk to me so I don’t understand why I was avoiding him…I still loved him so much-

“Ah ah,” I hear and look up to see Meg looking at me intensely; shit she noticed.

“Hey, stop that. You’re letting yourself feel bad and you’ve got no reason to feel bad. Ace made the decisions he made, he started you guys down this path because he’s got an addiction. It’s not your responsibility to pick up after everyone.” She says, rubbing my shoulder.

I guess the guys were listening because I glanced over and saw that all of them were just looking at us. I felt this wave of humiliation wash over me so I got up from the bar and headed for the door.

“No, (f/n) wait-” Meg called out but I waved over my shoulder, not looking back.

“I just need some air.” I said and pushed my way through the door.

The air outside was frosty and bit into my flushed cheeks, this stinging chill that did little to quell my desire to just sob. I kept fighting the urge to just unload and let my eyes flood, I didn’t want to cry while I was supposed to be out and having a good time.

I heard the door and didn’t look to see who it is; I knew it was Meg.

“Look, I’m sorry…I just am having a hard time pushing forward like this. Ace won’t fucking sign the divorce papers and Jane is calling me, trying to find out where I am. Of all the people Ace chose as his lawyer, he chose the one person who hates my guts and for what?! Because while I became a cop, she became a local celebrity but she still couldn’t seduce Ace from under me. Of all the awful things Ace has done, he’s never cheated but that never stopped that slut from trying! She used to frequent his favorite casinos just to make an attempt but he never even gave her a second look…he always came home to me. Shouldn’t I be grateful? Shouldn’t I feel good about it? Why then?” I started crying and frantically wiped my cheeks. “I still love Ace…but I know I need to move on from him, it’s just so fucking hard to act like it doesn’t hurt.”

I turned to look at her but was surprised when I realized that Meg wasn’t here…it was Dwight, standing there looking absolutely terrified. I didn’t even have time to say anything when the front window of the bar shattered and we both turned to see the cause. There were two men arguing in the street, one shorter than the other; likely teenager or early twenties and the taller of the two was clearly in his forties and was red in the face.

I started forward and my hand instinctively went to my hip but when I felt nothing, I remembered that I’m not on duty and my personal firearm is in my truck. Damn it.

As I got closer, the older man raised his fist and I rushed over and pushed against his chest, foolishly putting myself between him and the young man. I have yet to actually see the young man since his hood was up and now I’m placating a clearly drunk man, the stench of liquor almost burning my eyebrows off.

“Hey, hey, take it easy there, what’s going on?” I asked and he shoved me back into the kid he was shouting at.

The kid was quick and caught my arm, keeping us both from tumbling over.

“This has nothing to do with you, this is between me and _my_ son!” The man yells and the way in which he said ‘my son’ just hit my ears wrong, something about it didn’t sit right with me.

It didn’t sound like an angry parent, something in his tone made it sound like he was talking about a chair or toy…not a child.

I feel the kid push past me and before I can react, he lands a solid punch right to the man’s jaw, knocking him flat on his ass just as I start pulling the younger man away. He tries to go after him again but I grabbed his shoulders and kept him back.

“YOU HAVE **_NEVER_** BEEN A FATHER TO ME!!” I pull him back and all but toss him aside as the man stands up and comes at him, his cheek already swelling and red.

I drop to one knee and use my other leg to push myself forward, using his forward momentum against him. As he steps right into my shoulder, I wrap my arms around the backs of his thighs and use my back leg to raise myself up and push forward, screaming as I do so and dropping this man on his back. Once he’s down, I crawl on top of him and just as I get mount position, I hear a siren and look up to see a cruiser roll up and the sheriff’s symbol on the side.

“Shit…” I start when the man under me swings and nails me right in the cheek, knocking me over into the snow.

“(f/n)!” I hear Meg yell and I right myself in time to see the man getting pulled back by the two officers that got out of the car.

Looking around, I couldn’t see the young man anymore and I just knelt there in the snow, catching my breath when Meg appeared at my side.

“Are you Ok? That was pretty intense.” Meg says but I don’t have time to answer when one of the two officers comes over to me.

I can hear his partner asking the same questions we always ask; how many drinks have you had tonight, what year is it, all the usual sobriety crap.

The man that comes up to me is tall, blond with brown eyes and this constipated expression on his face. His lips are thin and straight with no cupids bow and his nose is steep, his jaw is sharp and his breath was heavy with coffee.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he asks me sternly, as if he were a father scolding his child.

I was taken aback, not even a ‘are you alright’ or anything, just straight into it? I gestured behind me blindly, “There was a kid, maybe a teenager and this guy was about to hit him so I stepped in.”

“Yes, I’m very familiar with Clive’s parenting tactics and I’m not too fond of it either, but that does not mean putting yourself in harm’s way, young lady.” He says, pointing oddly close to my face.

“Who are you calling young lady? It doesn’t matter if he can or can’t take a punch, he’s a child! Are you the sheriff here?” I asked and I could see his jaw tighten.

Someone clearly didn’t like anyone challenging his authority but I wasn’t going to lay down and play nice just because I’m sad, fuck this guy.

“No ma’am, I’m his deputy. Deputy Moore, and who might you be?” he asks, plastering a fake smile on his face and extending his hand to me but I kept my arms crossed as I held his gaze.

“My name is (f/n), I was an officer in my home town. I honestly gotta say, if this is how you handle domestic disputes-” I’m interrupted by Dwight pulling me back by my shoulders and stepping between me and Deputy Moore.

“Sorry Rod, she’s new to town.” He says and Rod’s eyes dart between us then he reaches out and pats Dwight’s cheek, making him turn his head away.

“Friend of yours?” He says then points at my hip. “You’ve got this worn patch on your hip there, you carry?”

“Yes, I’ve got my piece and my registration in the car. Its due for renewal in a month.” I say, crossing my arms, feeling my own Alpha personality starting to shine through as my temper flares up.

“She used to be a cop Rod; you don’t have to be a dick.” Meg spits as she steps up to my other side and tucks four fingers into my front pocket, as she usually does to keep me handled. She must have lost track of my drinks as well.

“Wonder what you’re running from?” he says just above his breath enough for me to hear it.

I’m glad Meg had a handle on me, because I stepped forward and would have been right up in his face if she hadn’t been.

“Not from my cripplingly fragile masculinity that’s for fucking sure!” I snapped and I heard a few snorts and coughs behind me. Even his partner and the angry drunk fell silent, Rod looked stunned but didn’t say a word. “I saw a grown man, assaulting a teenager and stepped in to put a stop to it. He’s intoxicated in public, abusing his child and you seem to have experience with it. How about you pull your thumb out of your ass and actually put him away before he kills the kid? Or is that too much work for you?” I snap and Meg tugs me backwards hard enough that I have to step back and Rod looks like he could start fires with his mind right now.

“Sorry Rod, we’ve been drinking and that’s why we’re here. You can check David’s security cameras, Clive had it coming anyways.” Meg glares at the drunk who flips her the bird which she quickly returns by blowing a kiss over it.

Rod looks past Meg at me and I return his ugly glare and looks over everyone here as he backs up a few paces.

“I suggest you all head home, have a safe night.” He stops on me and Meg’s grip on my pants tenses up, her knuckles press into my hip a little and I slide a hand over hers. I hold his glare and can feel in my bones that he’s going to be trouble down the line here. “And welcome to Ormond, (f/n).” he turns and joins his partner in the cruiser and they drive away, the lot of us breathing a sigh of relief. The crowd starts to disperse and I glare at Rod’s car as he goes when Meg punches me in the shoulder, causing pins and needles to erupt through it.

“Ouch, what was that for?” I asked and she looks freaked out.

“For being a meddler, you said that when you came here; you were leaving the policing behind you. It seems that you’ve forgotten that!”

“No, I didn’t, you saw what I saw. Someone had to step in,” I defend and her eyes drop; that ‘what am I gonna do with you’ expression crossing her face…I knew it too well.

“I know…I still don’t get how you just throw yourself into harm’s way without a second thought. That’s always been you. Look, Clive is a real asshole, even when he hasn’t been drinking so I’m just glad that things didn’t get any worse.” She says and pats my shoulder when Dwight clears his throat behind her.

“Um…” he stutters but says nothing, not really looking at me.

I turned to Meg and she winced at me. “Dwight and Rod have a pretty rough past. He’s a real prick for a multitude of reasons and most of the people around here don’t really want to mess with him. It’s a small town, so a lot of people feel kinda obligated to let him have his way. He’s usually less of a dick when Sheriff Baker is around but he’s not here right now, so I guess he’s like a dog off the leash. At least there’s someone here who’s not scared of calling him out on his bullshit.” Meg pats my back again and Dwight waves at me.

Meg leans into my shoulder, “So…what do you think? Rebound boy?” she asks and I slap her arm.

“Meg, he’s looking at us!” I whisper yell and she just smiled at me.

“I’m just saying, he clearly likes you.” She says and I shake my head.

“Yeah…” I fade off, thinking about how he is rather cute. “He is single, right?” I asked and she nods when I hear something plop into the slush behind me and I see its Meg’s wallet.

Instinctively, I turned and bent down to grab it when I felt a hand firmly slap and grip my ass cheek, making me stand up and turn. Meg had blatantly groped my butt and Dwight was smirking, trying not to laugh.

“You bitch,” I started swatting her with her wet wallet and she screeched as she tried to dodge me. She ducked behind some trees and out of nowhere she threw a snowball and it missed me. I heard it plop and Dwight had a white splat against his chest and he adjusted his glasses before storming over.

“You instigator Meg, come here!” he orders and starts chasing her around in the trees when he snatches at Meg’s waist and manages to lift her up onto his shoulder and I scooped up a handful of snow.

“Bring her here, Dwight!” I shouted and he carries her over, despite all her struggles.

I smashed some snow onto her face and hair and she screamed, taking some of it and throwing it at Dwight. “Traitors!” She yelps when her phone beeps from her back pocket so Dwight puts her down. “Uh-oh…that’s my alarm that my ass should be in bed. Gotta open shop a little early tomorrow.”

She starts towards her truck and flips us off as she goes, making Dwight and I laugh. “We love you too Meg!”

I turned to head for my truck but stopped and turned on my heel to Dwight, who was headed for his own. “Hey, um…Dwight.” I start and he turns back to me, looking hopeful but then I feel the words catch in my throat.

 _Can I get your number?_ Ended up coming out like “Make sure to drive careful, black ice must be a bitch out here.” And I can see he’s a little disappointed but nods.

“Of course, right back at ya.” He waves and as I turn away…I kick myself.

Dwight is cute…but I just didn’t feel right asking him, I didn’t know him that well and he’s the first guy I’ve met here. I just want to take a little time for myself…but at the same time, I’m extremely frustrated.

I’ve been so used to having someone with me to give me that romantic fix but ever since we started talking divorce, I haven’t felt that drive to commit to anyone. I bowed my head and just stood there in the snow for a moment, a long, quiet moment before I let out a sort of grunt and kept walking.

Getting to my truck, I could see this little napkin lightly flapping in the breeze under my windshield wiper. I pulled it free, careful not to tear it since the snow had almost completely soaked it and saw there was this frantic scrawl on it.

_We helped you, now you’ve helped us. We’re even._

_Welcome to Ormond._

I quirked an eyebrow and looked around, searching for the messages writer but I saw no one. I wasn’t sure if I should feel comforted or not, this must have been from those kids up at the resort. Getting into my truck I carefully considered everything that I’d learned today.

A group of college friends have sort of adopted me into their group, Meg is trying to hook me up with the carpenter, the deputy here is an absolute king of assholes and there’s this masked band of kids running around…doing good deeds unseen?

What is going on with this little town?


	6. A Morning In Ormond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day you spend in your new home, while the day is bright and sunny, there's still snow on the ground and a chill in the air. Unbeknownst to you, someone knows you're here...and they're not happy about you moving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm...what enemies will you be facing in this AU?! The Entity? Monsters? Or is it a slice of life? Hehehehe the tags promise horror and mystery, prepare yourselves my readers.  
> I did chop this one in half because it jumped from 4k words to 10k and then it kept going and I had to stop myself before I ruined my sleep schedule again.  
> Don't want to wait for the next chapters to come out? Early access is available on my Patreon for a measly 2$, including first drafts, scrapped chapters/alternate scenes and other goodies :3  
> https://www.patreon.com/DeadOnArrivalGirl?fan_landing=true

I don’t remember getting home and throwing enough blankets onto the bed to sleep but I managed. Come to think of it, I don’t even remember putting my bed together but I can see the empty boxes beside me. I guess I put it together and then crawled into bed and just sort of…crashed.

“Ohhhh fuck,” I muttered and turned over, pulling my pillow onto my head and curling into the blankets more when my phone started going off.

_WARNING! WARNING! IT’S THE WIFE!_

_Of course, it is._

I snatched it from the overturned box beside my bed and sort of just slapped it over my ear. “What?”

“Good morning sunshine!! Ready to unpack?” she asks, way too excited sounding already.

“No,” I resist the urge to hang up and go back to sleep.

“Too bad, I’m on my way to the market so I’ll meet you there. I always find you.” She says and I groan into the phone, loud enough that I can hear my own voice echo down stairs. “Get. Up.” She hangs up.

I threw my phone somewhere on my bed and just stared up at the dark stained beams above me. My sleep heavy eyes feeling puffy and warm.

My first night in Ormond was something of a rollercoaster ride for my emotions; too much happened. Ace sort of intercepted me on my way out of town, I cried, I got to meet some of the locals with a snowball to the head, Jane left me a passive aggressive message on my phone and I cried some more.

I hate her so much, all her success in her career and she still had to actively pursue _my_ husband. Ace never looked at anyone but me, I just can’t get that insecurity out of my mind. Thinking of that awful woman just made me curl back into the sheets and scream into the mattress like I was angry and 15 all over again.

MEG

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” I ran over to my storefront as Caleb directed an older man I didn’t recognize to keep sweeping. “Caleb, what happened?!”

The taller, lithe man looked down at me the way a parent looked down at a kid after a pet dies. He was an old Veteran of Ormond Sheriff’s Office, but remained on the force to help out and provide guidance to Rod and Charles.

Caleb was at least 6’6’’ and was skinny, but if you dared try to outrun the old timer it would be a sad day for you. His hair was past his shoulders and silver, always smooth and clean. His mustache made you think of old cowboys from John Wayne’s time but he had a hand on the law and never strayed from it.

“Someone threw a brick through your window; this note was attached to it.” He hands me this paper that was in a plastic evidence bag already.

_VISCONTI CAN’T RUN FOREVER!_

“Oh my God,” I muttered, feeling this chill slither up my back.

“Last I checked your name is Thomas, any idea who this is meant for?” he asks, pulling out his paper pad and pen.

“Yeah, my friend that just moved here. (f/n) (l/n), it was Visconti but she’s getting divorced. She’s trying to get away from her ex because he’s a problem gambler.” I admit quickly, him writing this all down.

“I appreciate you being honest with me, you think this could be her ex looking for her?” he asks and I shake my head.

“Hell no, Ace is a jackass but he’s _never_ been violent with anyone. He’s more the type who attracts the violent ones, gambling doesn’t tend to be a friendly sport.” I put air quotes around sport and he chuckled.

“Alright, thank you Meg. I think that for now, you’d do best to shut the doors for today, my buddy here is bringing in some wood to cover the window till we can get it fixed.” He says and I smile.

“Thank you, Caleb, I’ll just clear out the safe and double check the locks.” I say and he tips his hat to me before going back to the old man sweeping the glass and snow.

I cleared out what little money I had in the safe, double checked the back door and headed out. Caleb was about to get into his truck but I ran over, almost slipping as I stepped off the curb. “Caleb, hold up!”

He leaned against his open door, looking very much like a silhouetted cowboy now. “Yes dear,” he teased and I shook my head at him.

“Can you do me a favor and not tell (f/n) about this? She’s already dealing with a lot; she left the marriage because it wasn’t healthy.”

“What you want isn’t always good for you.” He says and I nod.

“Exactly, she just got out here and the last thing I want her worrying about is that shit because he doesn’t want to let go. I just want her to have a little time to relax, I’ll tell her later. Please?” I put my hands together to pray at him and he shakes his head.

“Alright kiddo, I’ll keep you updated though. Keep your phone on you.” He says and gets into his truck.

“Thanks Caleb,” I say and he drives away.

I look back at my store as a couple of guys start moving to put some wood over my shattered window. Coming out here was supposed to be another start for her, not a rehashing of old bullshit. I wasn’t there when everything hit the fan, I’m going to be here for her now.

(f/n)

Coming down the stairs only reminded me how fucking trashed my new place is, boxes absolutely everywhere. I was in such a rush to get the hell out of Ace’s house I didn’t bother labeling a damn thing. I was about to start opening boxes when a loud knocking stopped me dead. I looked at my back door and saw a rather scruffy looking man there, holding a cloth bundle in his arms.

I jumped behind a tall stack of boxes, feeling a spot on my knee burn as it screeched against the floor. I was wearing my black underwear and a SUPER thin tank top and I was not about to flash the hermit.

I chastised myself for that last thought, he’s not some homeless creep, he’s a friend who doesn’t happen to…live in a house. That didn’t seem any better a thought process so I just quit trying to figure it out. Hermit friend, not foe; plain and simple.

I waved my arm out in the open to get his attention. I held up one finger and then a thumbs up, two fingers and thumbs down; hoping he’d get it. One loud knock later, I was leafing through the only open box beside me and I found my heavy winter coat from the police department.

Better than showing my tits to my new neighbor. I threw that one, zipped it up and pulled the back down until it covered my butt and scurried to open the back door. Holy. Fucking. Shit! I forgot that outside my house I’m surrounded by snow!

“Hello?”

“Hi…um, I’m Jake.” He starts and then without another word presents the bundled fabric to me.

Why the hell did he look absolutely terrified?

“Um…what is that?” I start when the bundle starts squeaking and moving! I jump back from my door, he immediately walks in, holding the bundle to his chest with one arm and reaching towards me with the other. “What the hell are you doing!?”

“I found it by the road! Please don’t be scared!” He says, sounding extremely scared as he steps closer.

I’m about to reach for the nearest loose object when a bell rings in my head. “Wait, did you say your name is Jake?”

“Yes,” he says quickly, retracting his hand to the bundle.

“Ok…you’re Dwight’s friend. He mentioned you lived in the preserve,” I say, relaxing now that I at least know who this is. “Also, quick note; don’t just walk into people’s houses like that.”

He turns to go back out. “No, stop. There’s no point now that you’re inside; I mean in the future.” I’m trying not to smile, why is that these two sorts of dorky guys are so precious?? “I’m (f/n), what exactly is that you’re holding?”

A little black nose pushes its way out of the fabric with a tan snout and white lips, all furry and squeaky little whines. “Oh, my goodness,” I reach out and take the puppy as it continues worming its way out of the bundle.

I take this moment to look up at Jake, his hair is long and black, not greasy or dirty looking. His hair is in a sort of half bun on the back of his head and his beard is almost as luxurious as Jeff’s. He’s Asian, clear and pale skin but I can’t tell too much else about him from his heavy jacket, scarf and thick pants.

“Dwight told me that you were really nice and pretty so I figured I could give him to you, I don’t really have the resources to take care of him.” He says and I feel my cheeks grow a little warm.

“He said I was pretty?” I couldn’t keep the giggles away when his face turned pink and he started panicking.

“No, wait…um…he said you were pretty…nice! He said you were pretty nice!” he says and I shake my head.

“Gotcha, I’ll take care of him.” I say and he nods, the tiniest smile pulling at his lips before he quickly turns and goes back into the woods.

Meg is right, I know a thing or two about how some people just thrive more in the woods. Camping out most of my teenage years helped shape my path, I do want to get to know Jake a bit more though. I know why I was in the woods…I wonder why he is. I should be more wary of him living behind my house but I’m not.

I’m either losing my edge or Jake is not one of the people in this town I should worry about.

Driving into town was already a hassle on my own, driving into town with a puppy who cried if I tried to put him down was near impossible. I drove at maybe 15mph to keep from crashing or missing turns and also holding him against my chest and letting him lick my chin. I couldn’t even put him in my lap, he had to be in my arms.

Fortunately for me, I spotted the cutely decorated sign outside a stout, red brick building with two little glass front doors. One side said ‘Dog Owners Enter Here’ the other said ‘Cat/Other Owners Enter Here’. I tried not to think too hard on the ‘other’ part and entered the dog door.

The waiting area was white linoleum, a few deep scratches in it here and there. The walls were also white with a healthy mosaic of kid’s drawings, families with their pets or animals with angel wings. That wasn’t slightly depressing at all…

The receptionist was a young woman in her teens, ghostly white skin and dark circles under her eyes. Her lips were full and pink with a little tear scabbed over on one of them, her eyes were round and this piercing ice blue.

“Hello, how can I help you?” she asked, her accent catching my attention.

“Um…I have a puppy here, a friend found him by the road. Can I get him checked out?”

“KATE!” she yells over her shoulder and I almost jumped out of my skin, not at all expecting that. Even the puppy whined a little when I jerked. “She’ll be just a second,”

“Good, I’ll be done shitting myself by then.” I mutter and she stifles a laugh.

A door down the hall opens and this picturesque woman comes out in a white lab coat. High cheek bones, pink glittering lips and not nearly as piercing but still hauntingly vibrant blue eyes. What the hell is up with this town and all these beautiful women?! She cast a soft glare at the girl who just smiled at her cheekily.

“Nea…there’s a phone for a reason, please use it.” She says easily and Nea nods, seeming quite amused with herself.

The woman turns to me and I can see on her nametag-as per Nea’s shrill yell-her name is Kate D.

“Ah good, I’m sufficiently done shitting myself. Nice to meet you,” I say extending my hand to her and she smiles wide taking mine.

“I’m sorry about that, Nea means well, she just marches to her own beat…and refuses to share that beat with anyone else.” Nea clicks her tongue and shoots us finger guns, making me smile.

“Aww, poor little thing.” Kate says, lightly offering her fingers to the puppy. “Let me guess, you found him by the road?” she asks and I’m slightly taken aback.

“How did you know?”

“I had another resident bring in the other two and their mother this morning. Unfortunately, the mother was hit by a car and these little ones aren’t done nursing, so they’ll need to be bottle fed. Lucky for me Nea is a dream of a foster. You willing to take one more?” She asks the girl and Nea eagerly sits up from her chair.

“You found the last one?!” she asks, half listening as her ear bud falls out and Kate clears her throat expectantly.

Nea quickly tucks her headphones away and nods, sitting down again.

I carefully hand over the puppy to Kate and she turns to take him back to the room she came from. As she’s going, I feel this kick in my lower belly and I step forward. “Excuse me, Kate!”

She stopped and turned to look at me like a model on a runway, I swear I saw flashing camera’s everywhere. “Yes ma’am?”

“Would you mind if I left my number here? If the puppies need a forever home…I could do with some company. I’m all alone up here,” I half joked and this look of glee comes into her eyes, making them shine and she smiles.

“Absolutely, leave your information with Nea and we’ll call you as soon as I know.” She turns and takes the puppy into the back.

I let out this big sigh of relief as I stepped up to the counter and Nea slides a large paper pad towards me with a pen on it. I start writing down my name, number and address when I realize that Nea is staring at me, smiling much wider now.

“Yes?”

“Sorry, I just always see people bring in animals and not give two shits about what happens to them. You’re the first one I’ve seen that actually cares.” Once I put the pen down, she tears the page with my info on it off and plops back into her wheely chair.

She pushes herself across the office in it and snatches a manila folder from a pile of them on the far side of the desk.

“You haven’t seen _anyone_ else want to keep an animal they find?” I asked and she shakes her head, ripping open a package of brightly colored alphabet stickers without looking at it.

“I’ve only been here for a few months; but I have no respect for the people here who don’t give a damn about others. This whole town is so damn selfish…except for Kate.” she mutters, plastering my first initial on the manila folder and placing the paper I just wrote on inside it. “It’s just refreshing to actually see someone who knows that it’s not all about them.” She says and I smile stiffly, unsure how to take the compliment.

“I’m sorry,” I say without thinking and this gleam flashes through Nea’s eyes, this respectful nod following.

“Me too, have a nice day Miss (l/n).” she says and I nod back.

“Thank you, I’ll see you around Nea.” I say and she waves at me, popping something into her mouth as I’m leaving and putting her feet up on the desk.


	7. Camaraderie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After dropping off the puppy at the local clinic, gathering groceries and unpacking is the first thing on your list of things to do. Rod aggravates you a little more and you realize it's time to hash over a long past story of yours, admitting to your friends and yourself that you aren't just running from your divorce.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Shadow Over Ormond touches on subjects that may not be suitable for all readers in order to tell the story. In no way, shape or form are you meant to repeat or replicate the actions performed by fictional characters within this work.  
> Reader discretion is advised. (Use common sense please)  
> This work may contain discussions of child abuse, police violence, kidnapping, murder, assault, ptsd, corruption, statutory rape, teacher/student relationships, gang violence, domestic violence and man slaughter.  
> With all these warnings in mind, please enjoy :3

There was a grocery store across the street from the clinic, so I skipped walking to my car and just went straight to the store. The street separating the two lots had no lines on it so a quick glance around was all I needed, even if I did step on some frozen gum as I went and nearly slipped anyways.

I drew nearer to the store and saw a few teens in neon orange safety vests continuing to shovel snow into piles. Well, two of them anyways, the other two were throwing chunks of snow at each other. These massive pieces of just packed snow that weren’t small enough or round enough to be snowballs. The chunks didn’t even break every time they were thrown, they would crack or remain solid and whoever got hit would grab their back and keel forward.

My thoughts drifted back to the kids I’d seen when I got here, the four that were in detention. I wasn’t able to tell from where I was if it was the same group of kids, but there were four then and there’s four now. Rusty did tell me those kids were trouble, I guess I’m not supposed to be surprised that they’re shoveling again.

I felt that same warmth in my chest from before spark again, thick as thieves…that’s not necessarily a bad thing. As soon as I got into the store I was hit with a wall of heat, the doors were automatic and closed behind me; nearly catching my foot in the process. Past the wall of heat, the store was still rather cozy, open produce to my left and the rest of the store was made up of aisle upon aisle of either frozen food or dry goods.

I spotted a few columns of carts, ranging from regular size, regular size with a plastic cover to entertain kids and the smaller variety with a basket up top and on the bottom. I grabbed one of those and started going through my mental list of necessities; like toilet paper. I’d jotted what I knew I’d need for a new place down on a paper tablet, but then I lost it during the move so I just went by memory. I knew I’d miss some things, but I’d figure out what I was missing tonight when I start unpacking.

As I’m going, I find myself rounding a corner a little faster than I meant to and crashed right into someone’s cart. “Oh, I’m sorry!” I say quickly when I look up and find myself staring at Rod, plain clothes and his smug ass smirk. “Ew…” I grumbled and tried to back up, but he grabbed my cart to hold it in place.

“(f/n), glad to see you sober today.” I yanked my cart back and he let go, still smirking like a prick.

“Don’t even start as if I was the drunk and disorderly one, that guy was literally abusing his son in public.” I started and his left eyebrow twitched when I spoke.

“He’s not actually his son, he adopted him from the foster care center in Calgary. The boy is already trouble, he was raised in the system; he’s damaged goods anyways.” Rod’s bland expression as he says that really pisses me off, so I turn and hit his shin with my cart.

The smug look on his face immediately switches to one of pain and I gasp. “Oh no, I’m so sorry. Don’t stand in front of people like that.” I say and pat his shoulder, feigning comfort. “Maybe you should mind your own business instead of judging other people for theirs, huh Rod?” I turn my cart and start walking away from him.

“You should consider taking your own advice, you’re not a local so I’ll let it slide. You just don’t seem to understand how a small-town works.” His condescending tone made me prickle and I stopped, turning and fluttering my lashes at him and taking on a thick, Southern drawl.

“Really? You’ll let it slide? For little ol’ me? I’m ever so grateful, officer.” I say like a Western damsel and roll my eyes as I turn back to my cart to text Meg that I’m gonna be late.

I know she’s already going to be curious, but I’ll just have to spill all the details once I actually get back to my truck. She’s gonna talk my ear off once I get to the market; I might need another drink tonight.

Rod hums as he nods, clearly annoyed with me not bending to his will. It seems like this prick hasn’t heard a ‘go fuck yourself’ before and if he has, he hasn’t taken to it well.

“You’re really funny, real funny. Is your sense of humor the reason you got kicked out of your last department?” he asks.

I snickered and turned to him, keeping my phone in my hand as I placed it on my hip. “What? You think you’re gonna hit some nerve because you _think_ I got fired? I left of my own volition for reasons that are frankly, none of your damn business. Something bad was happening, I stepped up to the plate before some drunk loser did something worse to that kid.” I say when he reaches up and lightly pushes against my jaw to turn my head, the place his fingers touch is surprisingly tender.

I wince and push his hand away quickly, stepping back till my back touched the cart. Rod seems to be looking at me like he’s searching for something, making me squint at him. What exactly is he trying to do?

“Something bad _did_ happen, Clive got you pretty good and you got hit because you got in the middle of something that isn’t your job to handle. You’re not an officer here and I don’t intend on babysitting you, I am not your daddy.” He says, crossing his arms and glowering down at me.

He seemed like he was waiting for me to react so I looked down at the floor, I avoided eye contact and it was almost palpable how he seemed to puff his chest out a little. He watched my every move as I tucked my (h/c) hair behind my ear and approached him. Raised my head to look at him as I pressed my chest up against his arms.

Rod’s jaw clenched and I could see him lose some of the wind in his sails as I fluttered my lashes at him again, leaning in a little closer to whisper to him. “You know something, officer...you seem to have a real knack for telling people what to do.” He seems to lean down a little closer as I giggle softly before raising a finger to keep him back. “That being said…you will _never_ get me to call you _daddy_.” I quip and turn to go back to my cart, clearly leaving him flustered as he purses his lips and looks away from me.

As I stuff my phone back into my mini back pack, I glance back to see Rod wiping his face and glaring at me. I turned away quickly and resumed my shopping…Meg was gonna kill me.

“Why is Rod such a fucking asshole?” I asked as I pushed the gallon of milk into the fridge. “He actually seemed to think that I was going to plant one on him there, the day after we absolutely knocked it out of the park for trash first impressions. How pretentious is this fucking guy?” I slammed the butter I’d bought on the counter and look over at Meg, sorting through one of my boxes.

“I mean, he was the same way in college. He was an absolute prick then too; his parents paid his way through everything so we were just placing bets on when he’d flunk out.” She admits as she waves around a worn-out brown boot, looking at it like it just appeared there. “Um…what is this?”

“Old hiking boot, toss it in the ‘Good Vibes’ bin when you find its match.” I say and calmly thumb over the label on the butter. “I just fail to understand why I seem to attract the most problematic, arrogant men when I’m single…if I even start entertaining the idea of actually going out with Rod; you better-” I start when Meg pulls out the second boot and starts tying their laces together.

“Break both your legs, tie to the train tracks and leave you there overnight. I know, I know…you said the same thing about Tapp before he got married.

“Also…how does him being a spoiled rich kid explain him being a dick? My parents had money and helped me pay for college,” I say when Meg does a short fake out to an invisible opponent and throws the boots across the room and sinks them right into the ‘Good Vibes’ box.

“Because…he’s the worst kind of spoiled rich kid. We expected his grades to be the result of cheating or bribery but it turned out he was backing up all his bull shit with…well, not bull shit.” She says and kicks the now empty box towards the corner where she’d started building a pile. “We are so making a box fort with all this shit.” She says and drags out another box, ready to attack.

“What are you, five?” I asked but smiled and returned to putting my groceries away, speaking over my shoulder. “So, Rod was the kind of dick who talked a lot of big game…but it turned out to be true?”

“Yup, he ruled everything as far as grades and sports were concerned. He did great in everything and damn did we hate him for it; he was so damn proud of it too. When you mix actual skill and arrogance together, you’ll get one cocky mother fucker.”

“Speaking of being the ruler of a sport, why didn’t you commit to the WNBA? You would have completely dominated the world!” I asked and took my own shot towards the garbage but I missed by a mile. “I also would have become a problem gambler myself, betting on your ass constantly.”

“Because, I’m not interested in being in the spotlight like that. Those media vultures will just be up your ass until you die and then they’ll make a bunch of BS claims about your life, you’re not there to defend yourself…ick, just no thank you.” She then pulls out a long cylindrical case and holds it up to me. “What the fuck is this?”

“Oh, it’s a fancy olive oil. Ace’s mom gave it to me when we got married, I just never used it. Is it still good?” I asked and she had to turn it around in her hands a few times to find it.

“Yeah, for another two years.”

“Put it over on the shelf, I can still use it.” I say and she does so.

“You mentioned before that Dwight and Rod had a history, care to elaborate?” I asked, closing the fridge and walking around the counter. I then hopped up onto the edge and sat there, swinging my legs as I watched Meg continue sorting through that box.

“Dwight used to deliver pizza to pay his tuition, rich parents but wanted him to earn his way. He was too shy to do much socializing so they had him run the deliveries. He didn’t drive yet so he rode his bike everywhere, carrying the pizzas on his back. Rod would send some of his friends to mess with him, they actually chased him around in their car for almost an hour before he crashed his bike and bent up the front wheel. They technically didn’t touch him and just got a slap on the wrist for menacing and they avoided him the rest of the year. Rod even walked right up to Dwight and offered him a wad of cash to pay for the bike repairs. Dwight slapped it out of his hand, refusing outright.” She says, pulling out this thick book of pictures and set it down beside the box.

“Why would he do that?” I leaned forward a little, already picturing the mousy Dwight standing up for himself; he really hadn’t struck me as the type.

“I believe he said and I quote _I don’t want to owe money to some pompous rich prick who pays all his problems away_. Rod punched him in the face and broke his glasses…Dwight never reported it and ended up paying for those himself too.” She says, looking depressed as she talks about it.

“Damn…Dwight didn’t strike me as the prideful type.” I say but Meg shakes her head.

“He’s not, he’s as spineless as they come…but he’d been picked on his whole life, he’d literally been the butt of so many jokes for so long. He wasn’t about to let people think that he was an easy punching bag with the right price. He’s not prideful…just honest, stupid…but honest.” She explains and I smile.

“Jeez, that’s both really sweet and kind of sad.” I say as Meg pulls out a black wooden box and glances at me. “Um…dude…why do you still have this?” she asks, not opening it.

“I keep it as a reminder.” I hopped off the counter.

Meg looks over me, her eyes sad. “(f/n) you don’t have to-” I cut her off.

“I’m not punishing myself. I won’t learn from my mistakes if I pretend, they never happened. I made peace with him and his family, I still have to remember what happened so I never make that mistake again.” I say and Meg shrugs, rubbing the box with her thumb.

“How is he by the way?” she asks and I smile.

“He’s good, his daughter is about to go to college this semester. They both want me there to see her off.” I say and she still has that sad look in her eyes.

“Is her mother going to let you be there?” she asks, wincing a little.

“Tapp says he’s working up to asking, I’m trying not to get my hopes up.” I admit, seeing his very angry wife’s face in my mind. “She’s still pretty pissed at me.”

“Who’d be pissed at you?” I hear from behind me and see Dwight, walking in my back door with a plastic bag that stunk of sweet, sweet, fast food!

As disgusting as I knew the grease in that shit was…I can’t remember the last time I had a fucking French fry!

“Oh, my former partners wife.” I say as Meg giddily rushes over and snatches at the bag, Dwight raising it up above his head and out of her reach.

“She’s a hero, give it!” she says, hopping and trying to reach the food but Dwight keeps the bag up high.

“Why would she be angry at you?” he asks, avoiding eye contact mostly but eventually he looked in my direction, still keeping the food away from Meg.

“Oh hell, if I’m gonna go into that _I’m_ the one who’s gonna need more than a few of Jeff’s beers first.” I mention when Meg stops jumping and starts wheezing, she’s laughing so hard.

“Ask and you shall receive bitch!” she yells and Dwight holds the door open for the man himself to enter the room, holding a wooden case of dark beer bottles. “The timing on that!” Meg screeches, clutching the wall.

“Oh hell,” I say as Dwight stifles his own laughter and takes the food over to the counter.

“Dwight mentioned you two might want some drinks after working so hard, figured I’d stop by and hang out…he also got me a burger.” He says and Dwight tosses the foil wrapped bribery across the room, Jeff catching it easily with one hand.

It was like I was back in the locker rooms at the precinct all over again, that camaraderie that we all shared then…it was here and made me smile.

“Fair enough, let’s get started then. The sooner I drink the sooner we can get into this story.”


	8. Liquid Courage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talking with new friends sometimes means rehashing old stories, for (f/n) unfortunately, that can also mean opening old wounds...wounds that were previously well hidden.

It ended up only taking two beers to get me to start talking about how I ended up being a cop and why. Dad’s work as a private investigator fascinated me and my stay-at-home mother nurtured that fascination into a full-blown passion. It was so easy for me to jump right into the work when I got the job, Tapp being my first and last partner.

The way I worded my relationship with Tapp had my three guests stop what they were doing which, in turn, had me stop as well. Looking up from the books I held, I could see them all staring at me before Meg piped up.

“Dude, you make it sound like he’s dead already.” She says and quickly resumes digging through her fourth large box.

Jeff and Dwight both look physically relieved. “You really had us goin’ there for a moment.” Jeff says and I just slide the books onto a shelf; I’ll sort them later.

“I didn’t mean it like that, I just…” I started when the silence made Meg turn back to me again, that same sad look in her eyes. “I just never recovered…even though I wasn’t the one who was shot.”

“Your partner got shot?!” Dwight gasped, nearly spilling his milkshake on his shirt as he sputtered.

“To put it more specifically, I shot him.” I held up a hand for silence as I continued just loading books up onto my shelves. I guess it was just easier to talk about it when I wasn’t looking right at them. “It had been a regular call, we just showed up to follow up on an attempted robbery when as we were leaving things went bad. I stopped to go to the bathroom and he stuck around to shoot the breeze with the store owner when a tweaker came in.”

“Tweaker?” Jeff asked.

Meg cleared her throat and I glanced over my shoulder to see her make the motion of injecting her own arm at him. I snickered and turned to face the room, all eyes on me still. I took a deep breath before I continued.

“He got the drop on Tapp, he didn’t know the guy was a danger until he’d snatched his service weapon and took Tapp hostage. He demanded the owner empty the safe or he was going to kill him, I came out when I heard the yelling. The guy didn’t know that I was there, that Tapp wasn’t alone there. I took aim at the gunman from behind, knowing that I had a choice to make. I couldn’t risk shooting to wound, he could pull the trigger anyways and I knew who I chose.”

“What did it all look like?” Dwight asked, Jeff sputtering on his beer and Dwight’s face growing bright red. “That’s not a weird thing to ask!!”

I raised my hands up and motioned for Dwight to come closer, Meg throwing down what was in her hands and rushing over. “Ohhhh I wanna be Tapp!!”

“I’d rip you a new one if Tapp hadn’t laughed so hard when he saw you do it.” I said and she came over and stood in front of Dwight. “Dwight, hold your hand up to Meg’s head like you’ve got a gun and both of you turn away from me. Jeff, you can be the store owner.” I offer.

“I’m terrified,” He says, not moving from the couch and raising his bottle to me.

“Ok, so I was standing behind a rack of snacks and the gunman kept shouting at the owner. He didn’t see me and I took aim at the back of his head, it should have been an easy shot.” I say and raise my hands like I had that day, my right hand acting as the weapon and my left cupped around the bottom of my hand.

“What happened?” Jeff asked and I sighed.

“The store owner, hit the panic button and another set of cruisers pulled up outside with their lights on and sirens off. The gunman jerked back just as I pulled the trigger,” I walked up to Dwight and touched the tip of my finger to the back of his neck, making him jump but still he remained. “I hit the gunman at the base of his skull where his spine connected; dead before he hit the ground. Boom.” I imitated the recoil in my hand and Dwight let Meg go, holding the back of his neck and turning to look at me; face bright red.

“Wow…” he said when Meg started gasping and fell to her knees; playing it up a lot with her tongue flopping around. “Meg…what the hell are you doing?” Dwight asks when she stops and just looks up at him, her lower lip glistening from her tongue flopping around.

“Uh…I’m Tapp, remember?” she says and resumes her dramatic struggling.

“The way the gunman had been holding him when he jerked away from the door, the bullet went straight through his head…and Tapp’s throat. The gunman was dead but Tapp was gasping and gargling on the floor, I knew it was my fault. Fortunately for me however, a previous incident before I met him left him with a nasty scar around his throat. The scar tissue took most of the bullet and saved his life,” I say when my left leg is kicked out from under me and I fall to one knee. “OUCH! Meg!”

“The scar tissue did some of the work in saving him, you literally ripped your uniform off to pack the wound and keep him calm till the ambulance got him.” She says and stands up, looking down at me as I rub the shin she kicked, also standing up.

“Look…I know that’s how a lot of people look at it, but I don’t really see it like that.” I say and Dwight puts his hand on my shoulder, making me turn to look up at him.

“(f/n), you did what you had to do. If that guy had been able to corner himself with your partner still a hostage, two lives would have been lost for sure. You stopped that from happening, I can’t imagine why she’s so angry…but she has you to thank for him still being around.” He says and I think I felt my heart flutter a bit.

“Dwight and (f/n), sittin’ in a tree~” Meg starts singing, making Dwight turn and scoop her up real quick onto his shoulder.

“That’s it, I’m putting you in the trash!” he starts carrying her off when Jeff claps, getting us all to stop and look at him.

“That was the best show I’ve seen in a while, when’s the next one?” he teases and I just laugh, slapping Meg’s butt as I pass her by to get to the kitchen.

“Hey! Put me down, you geek!” she commands and he lets her go, fixing his glasses as he heads over to join Jeff on the sofa; the latter handing him another bottle.

Meg slides on her socks on the kitchen floor right into my shoulder, giggling like a school girl and snatching at the ice cream scooper I was about to grab.

“Well, what do you think?” she says and I just stared at her for a moment before I realized what she meant.

“Wh-MEG!” I snapped, lowering my voice to whisper yell at her. “You are not seriously trying to set me up with Dwight!” I hissed and she just snickered.

“Why not? He definitely likes you,” she says and I shake my head.

“Look, he’s cute but not really my type.” I say and she slaps the back of my head.

“Bull shit, your type for the last 5 years has been a drunk, old gambler who spent more time with the girls at the bar than with his own wife. You need to upgrade your tastes…” she says when Dwight gargling makes us look over to see that he had squirted some beer out of his nose and now he and Jeff were laughing like hyenas. “Or at the very least, test the waters. Rod is off limits though, he’s not the kind of prick you need in your life; if you know what I’m saying.”

I just shook my head when there was a knock at the door and I walked away from her. “Ice cream is on the top shelf in there, we’ll talk about this some other time…when the subject isn’t sitting on my couch.”

She just laughs, placing the oversized spoon in her mouth and heading towards the freezer as I open the door only to attempt to slam it shut in that same moment! I knew that smug, mocha lipstick smile anywhere and I thought I was about to throw up now that it was outside my house, her foot holding my door open.

My haste in trying to slam the door shut had made me drop my bottle, shattering it on the floor beside me and all the laughter and warmth in my house stopped instantly.

I cursed as I let go of the door and backed away as Jane almost theatrically pushed my door in. I was careful to let the door swinging open sweep away the largest pieces of my broken bottle and the sweet booze that I hadn’t drank.

Jane was dressed in a warm dark blue puffer jacket and no weather was going to keep her from looking her very best. She didn’t look like a lawyer, she looked more like a madam with the big faux fur wrapped around her shoulders. At least she had _one_ quality that I liked.

“What? No hello?” she asked, her voice smooth as melted chocolate but to me it was like hearing nails on a chalk board. For Meg, it was like waving a red flag in front of a bull!

I had to spin around and hold her back before her liquid courage convinced her to start throwing hands. “How about ‘get the fuck out’?” she snaps and I set her back before looking back at Jane, still standing in my doorway and letting all the hot air out.

“How the hell did you find me?” I asked.

“It was easy honestly, no thanks to you though. I’ll admit, you almost disappeared completely…lucky for me someone called your old station asking about you. Wanting to know why a woman with such a sparkling history in law enforcement, such as yourself, would throw all that away to move to this sweet little icicle? Not to mention getting in the middle of bar fights and sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong.” she says like a movie villain and I felt my temper flare as Dwight was the one who stood up this time.

“Rod called you?!”

Jane snapped her fingers, as if she wasn’t able to recall. “Yes, that’s the one! Lovely gentleman…speaking of,” she mentions when I hear footsteps and it was like my blood turned to ice.

“You didn’t!” I shouted when Jane steps aside and in walks Ace, looking strangely sober faced and not wearing his shades.

Meg pushed past me and I let her go, stepping right into Jane’s space but the rotund woman didn’t even blink. “You’ve got some serious balls to pull something like this Jane!” she nearly shouts in Jane’s face when Ace lightly pushes himself between them, making Meg back up a step and cross her arms.

“Me, I didn’t come here to start any trouble tonight.” He pleads, Jane looking up at him with big doe eyes. As if he was her knight in shining armor! _Oh Ace, please save me from the scary-scary Meg_!

“It’s a bit late for that Ace. Did you not understand the phrase ‘I want a divorce’?” I snapped and Ace turned his eyes to me, the sadness they held stabbing into my heart as if I’d just walked out all over again.

“Please…Dolcezza, I just want to talk.” He says and I step back, wrapping my arms around myself; hoping to find some strength to resist the fierce physical pull I had to go back to him.

“If you had listened to me even one time before all of this, you’d know how many times I convinced myself that we could talk it out. How many times I had to lay awake in our bed, wondering when my husband was finally going to come home and hold me!” I sniffled and realized that I’d started crying, my tears dripping down my cheeks. “When you’d finally see that the casino isn’t nearly as important as the woman you said meant more to you than all the sunny skies and star filled nights.” I quoted his wedding vows and I could see in his eyes how that stung him…but it didn’t bring me any joy.

“Babe please,” he starts but I shoved him back. He bumped into Jane who stumbles a bit but remains upright, casting a glare at me.

“Do NOT call me babe!! You lost that privilege the moment I filed!! Get the hell out of my house!” I shouted but Ace steps into my space, shoulders set back.

“No, not until we actually talk about this! You just packed up everything, left the house and filed for divorce through the mail! You actually hid from me in our own town, while I was losing my mind trying to find you!!” he says, reaching out to put his hands on my cheeks.

His warm palms against my cheeks and his calloused fingers stroking my skin made my resolve wane. It was that same glorious feeling that always put me to pieces before, had me swooning like a love sick fool. Now all it did was make me cry harder, my hands holding his wrists as I tried to find my strength again.

“Ace…” I pleaded, his thumb lightly wiping my tears away as I looked up into his honest, brown eyes. His image blurring as my eyes overflowed. “I asked you…never ordered your or tried to force you…I asked you, to please just stop gambling. I asked you to stop, for me because I needed your help, but you never listened to me!” I fought through my desire to fall into his arms and pushed his hands down.

The couch creaked as Jeff leaned into Dwight’s shoulder and he ‘Psst’ at him, but very loudly so we all turned to look at him. “I don’t like it when mommy and daddy fight,” he says and Dwight snickers drunkenly while Jeff takes another swig.

“Ace, Jane, she said to get out! You’re both trespassing on her property!” Meg starts but Ace steps closer to me, looking lost.

“What do you mean you needed my help? Help with what?” he asks and I just scoff, feeling every last ounce of my strength fizzle out.

I kept eye contact with him, glaring through the anguish dripping down my face as I unbuttoned my pants. Meg and Jane gasped, Dwight covered his eyes and Jeff cheered. “Woo, yeah! Take it off!”

“(f/n), what are you doing?!” Meg asked frantically.

I hooked my thumb into the band of my panties and jeans, lowering them down and raising the hem of my shirt, revealing the curved scar under my lower stomach. Ace and Jane both looked like they were seeing a ghost and Meg covered her mouth in shock.

“What…what is that?” Ace asked when I lowered my shirt and started fixing my pants.

“C-section scar…you were so damn focused on the bar that you didn’t even notice that I started gaining weight. I was trying to find a way to tell you but before I could put in notice for maternity at work…I fell.” I gasped, hating how soap opera this shit sounded.

“(f/n), you never told me that!” Meg said and I shook my head.

“I never told anyone, not you, not my parents…not my husband. The only one who knew was the doctor when they’d removed the _corpse_ from my body. That little hospital visit I told you not to worry about was me recovering from the surgery.” I gasped and tears starting trailing down Ace’s cheeks now too. “Yeah Ace, you were so busy at the fucking casino that I had to bury our DAUGHTER by myself before I even had a chance to meet her.” I huffed as I shoved my way past him. “At least she never would have had to know what it felt like to have you turn your back on her.”

I stormed out of the house, shoving past Jane as well, who looked down right pale and I stomped through the snow towards my truck. She immediately tried to follow me, shouting at me to get back there but I just flipped her the bird.

I was about to get in my truck when I saw Jane, standing in the front yard of my house, now yelling at the group by my door. “Ace, can you please control your wife!?” she shouts and that’s when I snapped.

I scooped some snow off the hood of my car, balled it up and threw it right at her; hitting her in the face so hard that it knocked her on her ass. Jeff and Dwight fell over they were laughing so hard, Jane’s body so deep in the snow that I could only see her legs sticking out.

I sped out of the driveway, hitting Jane’s snow covered Porsche in the grill and then drove down the mountain. My anger and pain started burning my eyes and I had to blink them away before I crashed. My head was on fire, there was too much for me to hide from but not enough places for me to hide…I considered going to The English Rose but I kept driving, I swear I’d seen another bar on my way into town. A darker, cigar smoke smelling, crappy sports T.V. playing place where I could bury my head in a bottle and just…hide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't sleep lately so I'm trying to make good use of my time :3  
> I Hate That I Love You is next up to bat.


End file.
